There's a Light at the End of this Tunnel
by xxNicholeStellar
Summary: Tucker, an adventurous Jolteon with a knack for storm chasing, is devastated by the loss of his mother and longs to seek revenge on the Rayquaza who claimed her. But when he meets Edie, a charming Vulpix, he realizes that revenge isn't all that important.
1. Prologue: Taken by Storm

**Author's Note: **I was writing the eighteenth chapter of one of my stories when the idea for this came to me. I've never written in the Pokemon fandom, but I've always loved the show and the games. Heh, my obsession goes as far back as the beginning of first grade. I knew how to train a Pokemon to level 60 before I learned how to divide. XD

I hope you enjoy this story, because I think this will be a great opportunity for me to expand my horizons above and beyond strictly Powerpuff fiction pieces. If you do read, reviews (constructive criticism, especially) are more than welcome. Thanks in advance! :]

BTW, I have typed my original summary for the story below, because it was, of course, too long for the requirements.

* * *

><p>He clearly remembered the storm that took his mother's life. He remembered it as if it had only occurred yesterday, and it haunted him relentlessly. He remembered the deadly Outrage of the century that shook the grounds and made the skies shift, courtesy of Rayquaza. He had survived it, and now he was guilty. The Sky Pillar had crumbled, and he had been tossed into the choppy seawaters, blinded by sheer panic as he swam away, not looking back. If he would have just stopped to think and listen to his mother's desperate cries and hear her, then he would have never had to have felt this guilt that he feels every time he looks up into the sky, praying to the Heavens above that maybe one day, some day, his mother and him would reunite, and he would prey vengeance on the criminal that shook the grounds and shifted the skies and claimed his mother's life.<p>

But when Tucker, an adventurous Jolteon with a knack for storm chasing, meets Edie, a sweet-laced Southern belle of a Vulpix with a heart of gold, their opposites attract and collide, and he feels an instant rush of adrenaline that he hasn't felt since five years ago when his life and all he's ever known was taken by storm.

* * *

><p><strong>-Tucker; The Flashback-<strong>

_"Mom, do you have our stuff packed?" I called out as I paced my room eagerly. "Everything's packed, kid. You sure you wanna go?"_

_My mother walked out of her room, her adventure bag already secured on her back, the black background with the single golden lightning streak bolting through the center displaying our signature trademark. My mother is a retired skydiver, and she's still as adventurous as she was twenty years ago. I guess part of my love for adrenaline rushes stem from her. _

"_Of course I'm sure. Do you know how famous we'd be for this? This is the opportunity of the century!" I answered, grabbing the straps with my teeth and throwing it over my shoulders._

_She gave me a concerned frown and sighed._

"_Have you heard the legend behind Sky Pillar? Anyone who sees Rayquaza dies instantly because of his famous Outrage attacks. No one has been alive to tell their story."_

"_But we could be the first. Think about it. Wouldn't that be something?"_

_She sighed, then gave me a weary smile._

"_You sure are reckless. Let's just be careful, okay?"_

"_Alright."_

_And so we set off to the Stormy Sea. Since my mom used to be a professional skydiver, she has connections with all sorts of legendary Pokemon, allowing us easy transportation to our newest adventure locations. _

"_Now just where could Kyogre be?" she asked to herself as we arrived at the shore of the sea. Kyogre soon emerged from underneath the water, smiling as he saw my mother stand before him._

"_Hello there, Elizabeth. What brings you and Tucker here?"_

"_We need to get to the Sky Pillar," my mom answered quickly._

_Kyogre gave her a disapproving glance and shook his head._

"_What business do your lazy bones have up at Sky Pillar? Have you not heard of the powerful force that resides there?" he preached incredulously._

"_Aw, I'm not that old, Kyogre. Are you going to take us or should Tucker and I go alone?"_

_He stayed silent for a while, then turned around to let us jump on his back, muttering a string of cuss words under his breath. We happily boarded, and in about thirty minutes, we had arrived at the shore of the island that the Sky Pillar rested on. I looked up. It seemed to loom over us eerily, as if it were watching us, expecting us. I grinned widely and jumped off of Kyogre's back, landing on the sand, my mom not far behind._

"_Now, Elizabeth, do call me if you need help, because there are some rather strong creatures awaiting, and please be careful."_

_My mother shooed him off with a wave of her hands and trudged behind me towards the entrance._

"_No turning back, eh, kid?" she whispered, gazing up at the towering pillar ahead of us._

"_I guess so. We better get a move on."_

_It took hours and hours of fighting off rather strong wild Pokemon on eight different levels, but we did it, and mom even found an old skydiving buddy she used to know. Mom was exhausted. I was exhausted. But we couldn't stop now, because on the ninth floor lay our biggest adventure yet, and I couldn't wait for it to unfold._

_We climbed up the final flight of stairs and walked up a few steps where a sleeping Rayquaza lay curled up in a small circle in the center. The hackles on the back of my neck bristled with excitement, and I was fidgeting relentlessly._

"_Mom, that's what we came here for! We saw it! We _saw _it! And now we can live to tell all about it!" I whispered energetically, smiling the whole time._

"_Shhh, Tucks, we don't want to awaken it."_

"_Are you kidding me? I wanna take a picture of it so we'll have proof!" I countered, gesturing at Mom's backpack to tell her to get out the camera._

"_No, Tucker, come back here!"_

_Too late. I scurried off towards the sleeping Rayquaza, and before I was even a good ten feet in front of him, his eyes snapped open and he glared at me, his eyes glistening this brilliant golden shade. I smiled sheepishly and whispered a soft greeting to him. Rayquaza rose up and let out a vicious war cry. The sky darkened. The once soft and gentle breeze suddenly came to a halt, as if time itself froze in midair. Then, it kicked back up, whipping my blonde and white fur about as it swirled around us. A low rumbling of thunder snarled at us from the distance, and I knew then that a storm was brewing._

"_Tucker! Tucker, come back!" Mom called out, racing after me. Rayquaza took this as an offensive threat and launched a Hyper Beam at her. She ducked out of the way just in time, and the beam of energy narrowly missed her, just grazing the spiked, golden fur on her back. _

"_Tucker, watch out!"_

_I turned around quickly, just in time to see a new Hyper Beam begin to form right before my eyes. Instead of turning around and fleeing, I stood there, paralyzed with fear, frozen with apprehension, and a thousand questions were swimming in my head. What if I never made it? My instincts shut off. My brain went through a technical difficulty or two. I could only process one word that was so complex yet so, so utterly simple:_

_Death._

_Then comes my mother, rushing to my protection, all in one blur of golden yellow and white. She flung herself at the beast before us, and it let out an enraged roar. She bit down on his neck, and, despite all the shaking he was doing in an attempt to get her off, she held her grounds impressively. Then, the rain came down, and it came down hard. I knew then that this was no ordinary storm, and I knew what was ahead of us. This would be the worst in all current history. The skies would rip. The ozone layer would shatter. The grounds below would quake. Everyone would perish. _

_And it was all my fault._

"_Mom, get off of him!" I cried desperately, my eyes widening with fear. With a final cry, Rayquaza shook free of my mother, sending her to the ground in a heap. I couldn't see exactly where she landed; the rain pellets were drumming against me harshly, blinding me, deafening me, depriving me of everything I had._

_Then, Rayquaza began to glow. The skies above him somehow slashed open, and a single beam of light cast down upon him. I squinted my eyes to better see, but then, in a sudden flash of white, everything lit up. Everything. _

_Suddenly, Rayquaza was gone, and the Sky Pillar was on fire. Flames and thunderbolts and ice beams and aurora beams and rain were flinging about wildly, and everything was so surreal but so incredibly realistic yet so, so impossible. It was a hurricane, a thunderstorm, a hailstorm, a blizzard, and an earthquake at the same time. And I knew exactly what it was:_

_Outrage._

_The world's deadliest move. The reason why those who have seen Rayquaza have never lived to tell their tale. And now I would be one of them. _

"_Mom! Mom! Where are you?" I called out, weaving my way through the ice crystals that were bolting through the air. No response. With every step I made, the floor tile beneath me cracked. The Sky Pillar was beginning to crumble and cave in. I had no idea where my mother was._

_I had just turned my head to look to my left when a humongous tidal wave reared up on me. It scraped against the side of the tower, teetering it to the left, then to the right. It lunged at me again, this time taking me, along with the Sky Pillar, down with it, crashing down into the terrifying seawaters. I held my breath in preparation, lucky that I could still hold my breath for minutes on end. _

_This may have been the worst storm yet. _

_A large boulder knocked against my head just as I bobbed up from the murky depths of the sea, sending me spiraling back down. I held my breath and swam back up to the surface, exhaling deeply when I broke free. I swam over to a large piece of the Sky Pillar remains and pulled myself up a bit. I looked about frantically, crumbles and pieces of what was once the Sky Pillar being the only thing as far as the eye could see. No sign of my mother._

_I called for her several times, only to be answered with clashes of thunder and streaks of lightning. Another wave took me under, and I held my breath until my lungs smoldered and burned. And I waited. And I waited._

_And I waited._

* * *

><p>"So will you accept this mission to find Nidoran and bring her back safely?"<p>

"Of course we will! All we do is accept missions! Ain't that right, Tucks?" Ralph answered eagerly, slapping me on my back with a clawed hand.

"Of course! We are _the _rescue team, after all. Everybody knows us," I replied arrogantly, elbowing Ashton suggestively.

"Okay. Just to make sure you know," Whiscash began," I have requested another rescue team accompany you on your mission. They're all female, by the way."

I snorted a laugh.

"Girls? _Girls? _Seriously? Please. No one is as good as Team Escapade, dude, it's a fact," Ralph countered, giving Whiscash a bored look.

"You guys are such dorks," Ashton sighed.

"Shut up, Ash. Nobody asked you."

"Nobody had to."

"Just get going!" Whiscash bellowed.

So Team Escapade, consisting of Ashton, Ralph, and I, set off for the Tiny Woods.

Ashton was a relaxed, chilled kind of Feraligatr with an intense love for all things gaming. He was a computer whiz, and he was always up on the latest cheat codes for his games. He took it seriously, as if his freakin' life depended on it.

Ralph was a complete 180 from Ashton. He was a hyper, energetic Typhlosion that had a strange obsession with flirting. He liked to skateboard, and he had a pretty mean temper.

I met them in the Johto region when I used to live there with my mom. I knew them since we were little baby crocodiles and baby mouse-guinea pig-things and baby kits. We would always go outside and play Ninja Showdown or Paintball Wars. Our shared love for adventure and helping Pokemon eventually meshed and grew and expanded, allowing us the honor of becoming a rescue team. I moved out of my mom's den, and we headed for Treasure Town, where we shared a place. Of course, Ashton just _had _to deck it out with his gaming systems, and Ralph added to it with Playboy Buneary magazines, Lopunny being on one of the covers. Ew.

I simply furnished my room with my adventure gear, as that was all I needed to be satisfied.

On the second level of the Tiny Woods, Ashton and Ralph were searching for Nidoran; I got sidetracked and wandered off through the trees. The rustling of the wind soothed me, and I closed my eyes, inhaling the scent of fresh pine needles. When I opened my eyes again, I had no idea where I was. I refused to say that I was lost; rather, say I was bewildered as to my surroundings or place, most definitely _not _lost. Adventurers never lose their path, for they make their own and blaze a trail. They are one with nature. _I _am one with nature. I can find my way back. Or rather _make_ my way back.

My ears twitched, and the hackles on the back of my neck bristled. I could feel the electricity surging there. I wasn't alone. The senses don't lie.

I stuck my nose in the air, sniffing it silently. I definitely wasn't alone. And someone, something, was near. I felt a presence behind me and let my instincts just go wild as I lunged at the intruder, my teeth bared viciously. I landed on top of them and we tumbled over, back flipping into a tree and startling a Monster House of wild Pidgey. I quickly sprang up to my feet, ignoring the unknown Pokemon I had thrust myself at. It eventually rose up, too, and let out a weak growl. Wimp. You ain't scaring _anybody_ with that shameful excuse of a snarl.

The wimp Pokemon that had agreed to assist me—which I clearly did not need-glared at the Pidgey, glancing between each of them carefully, daring one of them to strike first. I was much too impatient for that crap, so I lunged at one of them first, sinking my fangs into its matted plumage. The rest of the Pidgey dog piled me, but I remembered the golden rule of battling:

Never go down.

Because once you're on that ground, there's a very slim chance that you'll be bounding back up. My great uncle Umbreon taught me that, and preached to me how important battle strategy was. Screw that, I'm a freakin' _monster_. I whirled away from the bird I had ruthlessly attacked and turned around on my toes, charging at another, then tackling another, then launching a Thunderbolt at two of them, sending their scorched and cowering forms fluttering back to the treetops. That wimp Pokemon with the weak growl slashed its way through the mass of entangled wings and limbs, and it even destroyed a few birds. I was sort of impressed, but only because they were all one-hit-KO's. I could do that. The showoff.

It had some pretty mean fire attacks on it, but other than that, it was a nobody. Amateur-ish, even. Naïve. And it used strategy like a coward instead of going straight in for the kill. Ew.

Eventually the rest of them fled, too, like the cowardly wimps they were. I nodded in triumph and sat down, glancing at the Pokemon that had assisted me. I noticed that it wasn't in fact an "it," but it was a "she." A "she" with light, golden-auburn fur and a curly tail consisting of smaller curly tails, and dark red emo-ish bangs sweeping over her golden-auburn eyes, a curly tuft of hair at the top of her head. Around her neck was a dark purple bandana. She was a Vulpix or something like that, right? Is that what they called them these days? It sounded like a Pokemon that would be in one of Ralph's Playboy Buneary magazines. Remind me to register her in my brain as an automatic slut later on.

But whatever. I was here for a mission, and that was to find the missing Nidoran. And I was gonna find it all by myself, maybe rub it in Ashton's face later on. Suddenly, it weaves its way through the trees and bushes at just the right time. That Vulpix and I reach it at the same time. Well, she reaches it first, but still. My fur bristles with excitement and I can feel sparks literally flying from my ass crack. I'm so excited I just can't contain myself, so I dash off, shouting to Ashton and Ralph that I had found Nidoran.

When I looked back, that slut was still staring at me like I was the next piece of eye candy for her to get her hands on. Sorry, but I don't fool around like that. I'm all about my business, and my heart belongs strictly to adventure and adventure only.

"Guys! Guys! I found Nidoran!" I exclaim as I dash towards Ralph and Ashton.

"No kidding? Where?" Ralph asks excitedly, turning his head to and fro as if the Pokemon would walk right in at any given moment.

"You better not be lying, you asshole, or else I'm gonna clobber you with a crowbar," Ashton admonished. That was his way of being a friend.

"Honest! Follow me!" I ordered, dashing off to the secluded spot where I left Nidoran. Oh, freak! What if that Vulpix led him off somewhere and my teammates thought I was lying? I would have to roast her alive and bury her body under Ralph's bed.

When we got to the location, Ralph's eyes widened and he purred like a kitty.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who's the red-hot babe sitting all by herself?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Hold your ropes, there, tiger. We're on a mission," Ashton said, holding Ralph back with a clawed hand.

"Right, right."

We walked towards the Nidoran to see that the Vulpix wasn't alone. Two other Pokemon were with her, and they each had on the same amethyst-shaded bandana that she was sporting. One was a Glaceon; I knew that much, since my mom tried to evolve me into one. I'm so glad she decided against it...

The other was an Altaria. Too fluffy for my liking, but she was cute I guess.

"Edie, do you have the badge to take her back?" the Glaceon asked, turning her head and meeting my eyes. Her azure eyes widened, and she huddled in closer to her teammates, whispering in their ear. It was pretty obvious who they were talking about; why be sneaky?

Ugh. Girls.

"Hey, quit your gossip and hand over the Nido. We saw her first," Ashton spoke up, taking a step towards them.

"Apparently not. Edie saw it first," the Altaria countered, floating over to us.

"Who the hell is Eddy? And, no, Ed did _not _see it first. Tucks over here did," Ralph argued, grabbing me around my neck in a playful chokehold.

"The name's _Edie, _not Eddy, you jackass," the Vulpix—who I'm assuming is Edie—growled.

"Doesn't matter. We—Team Escapade—are here to rescue Nidoran. So hand him over and get lost," Ashton snarled, getting face-to-face with the Altaria.

"Team Escapade, huh? We've heard about you guys. You're notorious for your immature pranks, right?" the Glaceon taunted, circling around Ralph.

"Yeah, that's right. And we're also famous for actually saving people instead of sitting on our asses all day," I added, glaring right at Edie. She averted her gaze to the ground bashfully.

"Anyway, we—Team Crescendo—are far stronger than your sorry excuse for a rescue team will ever be," the Glaceon said.

"What kind of name is Team Crescendo? You might as well be Team High Note or Team Soprano," Ralph snickered, earning a snorted laugh from Ashton.

"How's about a battle to prove it?" Edie challenged suddenly.

Everyone stared at her. Our eyes met. I glared at her. She held her grounds and defiantly glared back.

"We'll mop the floor with you guys. Let's get this show on the road!" I barked, slapping Ralph and Ashton on their backs.

"Yeah, buddy!" Ralph yelled excitedly. Ashton just smirked calmly.

"Ready?"

I nodded at Ralph. He nodded at Ashton. And in a flash, we were charging at our opposing team. Ralph tackled the Glaceon, dodging Ice Beams along the way. He opened his mouth wide, letting out a Flamethrower. The Glaceon sprinted swiftly to the left and darted to his left, then to his right, before delivering a Shadow Ball at his stomach. He toppled over and fell flat on his face, breaking our first battle commandment. Ashton saw this and yelled at him to get his ass up. Ralph stood up and had just narrowly missed a Water Pulse attack by dropping to his stomach and flattening himself against the ground. The water beam just grazed the tip of the flames on his back.

Ashton rushed the Altaria with a swift Dragon Claw, then used her recoil against her as he bit down upon her neck with an Ice Fang. Pretty smart dude. He always has known which types are effective against which, and right now he was making it easier for our team. That's my boy.

Edie caught me off guard and delivered a Zen Headbutt to my stomach, temporarily knocking the wind out of me. I back flipped onto my feet and darted at her, sending a powerful Thunderbolt her way. It hit, and she went tumbling down. I wasted no time in firing up another Thunderbolt, but I was stopped in the midst of it all when Ashton hollered out our secret code.

"Scram!" he shouted, gritting his teeth.

I used my Magnet Rise move, flashing Ralph the signal. He nodded and dashed off towards me as quick as his strong legs could take him, leaping onto my back and latching on for dear life. Edie and her teammates looked at us in confusion, when suddenly, the ground beneath us began to quake. It started out as a quiver, and built up to an all out Earthquake. Edie was thrown every which way, the Glaceon tumbled to her feet and was sent hurdling to the right, and the Altaria was unaffected, flying over to try and get her teammates to climb onto her back for protection. I picked up a stone and launched it at her, knocking her to the ground with her wimp alliance.

Ever since Ralph, Ashton, and I began battling together, we've always come up with a way to cover all our weaknesses. Ashton's got himself covered from any electric Pokemon with his Earthquake attack, also shading me from ground-types with his Ice Fang. My Magnet Rise allows ground-type moves to be ineffective, which is why our strategy for sweeping an entire group of Pokemon is effective. Ralph will just jump on my back so he won't be affected. Ashton's also got us covered from dragon-types, though we aren't weak to them. He just likes to get rid of them the quickest because dragon-types are famous for their wide move pools, and if one of them just happens to know Earthquake, then Ralph and I are going down in one or two strikes. I've got Ralph safe from water-types with my powerful electric-moves. So, all in all, we're a pretty good battling trio, if I do say so myself.

Once the Earthquake was over, Ralph leapt off my back and gave me a high five. I beamed in triumph, though I wasn't the one who had delivered the final blow. I grabbed the badge out of my adventure bag and walked towards the spot where the Nidoran was when we had started the battle. The badge glowed a bright white and transported the Nidoran safely back to the Pelliper Post Office. I was just about to hold it up to us to go back to Treasure Town when Ashton covered the badge with his hand.

"Don't. We can't leave."

"Well, why not?" I asked, annoyed.

"Because. If we leave the girls here, we're never gonna hear the end of this from Whiscash. Just let them come back with us."

"No way!"

"Come on, Tucker, I'm hungry!" Ralph whined, rubbing his belly.

I muttered a few cuss words under my breath and walked over to Team Crescendo. Upon closer inspection of their bandanas, I noticed that their names were on the back, embroidered in white, cursive letters. The Altaria's name was Frosting. The Glaceon's name was Lexi. And, of course, the fox's name was Edie, short for Edith.

Such an innocent, pretty name for such an unworthy slut.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>So, what did you guys think? :]


	2. Another Mission Failed

I squirmed and wriggled atop of my bed, struggling to pry my eyes open. A low growl subconsciously sounded from my throat, and I tossed over onto my left side, curling up into a fetal position and gnawing on my paw in an attempt to escape my nightmare.

"_Tucker! Tucker, come back!"_

"_Tucker, watch out!"_

"_Mom! Mom, where are you?"_

_I hardly looked. I didn't even bother to search for her. And now she was gone forever…_

I must have awoken my roommates, because Ralph sat up from his curled up position on the couch, blinking at me to clear his vision.

"Tucker? You okay over there?" he whispered in a raspy breath, scratching his side.

My eyes slowly peeled open, and the dreadful scene that was once before me quickly diminished to reality. I blinked back at him and raised my head.

"Yeah."

Ashton woke up, glanced at us, mumbled an "are you okay?" and turned back over, drifting off to a peaceful slumber. Lucky. If only I could have a serene sleep now.

"It's not your fault. You got us now," Ralph assured, giving me a slight smile. I shrugged and lay back down against the cushions of my bed and turned over on my stomach. Staring up at the ceiling, I swallowed and rolled over on my back in slight discomfort.

"Ralph?"

He had succumbed to sleep, too. I was still awake, and probably wouldn't be getting a wink of sleep tonight. I groaned in aggravation and got up, walking into the front room. I turned on the game system and played _The Legacy of Giratina: Revenge of the Dragons. _At the main menu, I selected my file with the highest score and played well into the early daylight hours just slaying Pokemon with my team of renegade dragons and one Lucario. With every button I mashed, a growing sense of loneliness expanded in the pit of my stomach. A knot formed in my throat, and it felt as if I was choking, but I wasn't. It happened a lot when it was just me by myself up at night. I didn't know why, though, considering the fact that I had Ashton and Ralph sharing the same place with me.

I stole a quick glance at the clock. 5:52 a.m. We had a mission today, and I would be too tuckered out to fight off any enemies.

My eyes were probably reddened from the blinding lights of the television screen, and my eyelids were growing heavy. I was too tired to slouch back to my bed, so I flicked off the T.V., threw my game controller to the side, and reclined back into the cushion of the sofa. I just hoped that the sky demon from the dark depths of my innermost subconscious wouldn't wash my mother away again tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>-Edie's Point of View-<strong>

As my dream from the night before slipped away from my sight, I opened my eyes slowly, blinking as reality came to view. For a long moment I just laid there, curled up in a tight ball, staring out into the darkness. Suddenly, Frosting's shrill singing tore through the placid silence and pierced the quiet, jolting me to full attentiveness, but not quite startling me enough to arouse me from my tranquil state of mind. Today we were heading out early to go take on a mission somewhere out in the Sinister Woods, but right now I was mentally absent.

"Edith, sweetheart, right now is the time for you to get up," Frosting sang, floating over to me with Lexi on her back.

"I know that, but can you stop singing?"

"You know you love it. Now go pack up."

I shook my fur and sat up.

"I packed last night," I retorted, turning to dig an apple out of my backpack.

"Don't eat all the food, fat-ass, or we're not gonna have anything to eat in the woods!" Lexi sniggered, clutching onto Frosting's fluff with her paws.

"Do you _really _wanna go there?" I teased, shaking a pack of clear gummies -her absolute favorites - in front of her face.

"Ladies, ladies," Frosting started in her usual motherly tone," let's be nice. Now, Edie, go wash your face off, because you look rather frumpy this morning."

Lexi chuckled and winked at me.

"That's her face everyday, Frost," she gasped between breaks in laughter.

"Very classy," I muttered sarcastically, turning to the doorway. I stepped outside and walked around to the side of the house, stopping at the small pond. I gazed into the clear waters and stared thoughtfully at my reflection as I cupped my hands and dipped them into the water. I washed my face off slowly, my steady gaze cast down upon my reflection unwavering. The faint, early morning sunlight made the water glisten a somewhat mystical turquoise, and I dipped my hands into the water again, washing my face with the refreshing fluids and pondering silently as it cooled my face despite the warm, humid breeze.

Suddenly, realizing that I had spent a rather long time outside, I roused myself from my comfortable position on the grass blades and trotted off for the house. Frosting had just made it to the doorway when I did, Lexi behind her.

"I got our backpack," Lexi offered, gesturing at the bag that was on the floor beside her hind leg.

"Thanks."

I grasped the straps with my teeth and slung it over my back, turning toward the stone path that led to the roads. Neither Frosting nor Lexi made any other attempt to start up a conversation while we were walking, which was somewhat of a relief. I didn't really feel like talking. It was too early, for one, we had nothing to talk about, and the silence was soothing. It was just Team Crescendo and the early morning air and the moist dewdrops glistening in the pale blue light and the faint breeze that scented the atmosphere with a sweet aroma that mingled with my senses and resurrected my spirits.

We trudged along through the terrain for about an hour longer before we came about the entrance of the Sinister Woods. I reached behind my neck and tightened the purple straps holding my bandanna together before treading along through the trees.

"What's the objective?" I finally spoke after a long moment of silence.

"We've gotta find and rescue a Ratatta on the eighth floor. Easy—especially since all three of our types together, excluding my dragon type, puts a triple threat against bug type Pokemon," Frosting answered, sighing in content.

I nodded and walked along a bit farther, weaving my way through bushes and tree trunks. Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks and sat on my haunches. I tilted my head to the side and stiffened my body and listened, not daring to make a sound. Lexi and Frosting caught on quickly. Frosting darted her eyes to and fro, scanning over our surroundings as Lexi got into a fighting stance. She bared her teeth and crouched down, challenging the possible intruders to make a move and fight.

It was a good two minutes before I hesitantly arose from my seated position, still glancing around suspiciously as I stalked along my way. Frosting floated after me without the slightest reluctance. Lexi faltered for a moment, as if unsure if she should follow us or stay behind, then hurried along to catch up with us. As I jumped over a puddle of murky water on the dirt floor, I heard a snapping noise off in the distance. My teammates heard it, too; I was certain of it. I swallowed and mentally prepared myself for a battle.

Suddenly, a group of wild Pokemon consisting of seven Mankey swooped in, hollering out their challenge to us.

We hardly needed an invitation.

I whirled around my toes, rearing up on the back of an oblivious Mankey and tackling it ferociously, not wasting my energy on an actual attack move. It spiraled down to the ground, and I leapt off of it just in time before it crashed to the dirt. Meanwhile, Frosting killed two birds with one stone using her Sky Attack, Lexi defending her from any attackers that might ruin the two-turn move and make her flinch with her Water Pulse. A few of them came out confused from the impact and fainted, and now we were down to two Pokemon left to battle. They were taken down with one-hit-KO's, and none of us came out with so much as a single scratch on us.

"Now that _that's_ over with," Lexi huffed, shaking her fur.

"_Fight! Fight! Fight!"_

We all turned around to where the uproar was coming from. A blush involuntarily crept to my cheeks as soon as I saw him.

"Ugh, _you _guys again," Lexi muttered under her breath.

"Yeah? Well, you can't stop a good thing, baby," the Typhlosion said, winking at Lexi. She scoffed and sat on her haunches, turning her nose up at him snootily.

"What are you doing here?" Frosting asked curiously, stealing glances at the trio before us.

"You mean besides clearing a mission? Pretty obvious, ain't it?" Tucker answered coldly, keeping his nose to the ground and avoiding our gaze. That Feraligatr was by his side, a toothpick placed firmly between his lips. He never was one to talk much, I noticed, and he had this cool, reserved aura surrounding him.

I didn't say anything, just watched intently as Tucker scrounged the ground for whatever he was searching for. He seemed so involved with what he was doing; it was like when a job commanded his attention, he gave it his all. He looked as if he was really immersed in whatever he was doing and his number one goal was to stay committed to his assignment.

"Well, you didn't have to be so rude about it," Lexi chimed in, stepping towards Tucker. He didn't even give her a second glance. I just stared at him in amazement, thinking _how could he be so phlegmatic and unresponsive like that when there was so much obvious tension accumulated?_

Suddenly, the hackles on the back of his neck rose and prickled, and I could have sworn I saw sparks fly from the yellow fur spikes along his spine.

The Feraligatr rose one of his eyebrows at this, his face emotionless, and he snapped his fingers. The Typhlosion looked up from his failed attempt at flirting with Lexi in attention. The alligator calmly took the toothpick out of his mouth.

"Tucker's sensed the tracks of our objective. Let's go," he ordered inscrutably.

The Typhlosion nodded and apologized briefly to Lexi, flashing her a "call me" signal before hurrying after his teammates.

"Gosh, that Jolteon's rude," Frosting grumbled, fluffing up her wings incredulously.

"Tell me about it," Lexi added with a roll of her eyes.

"And he was so obnoxious, too."

"I know, right? He was pretending to be all absorbed in his craft, like he knew just what he was doing. What a douche!"

"Don't you think, Eeds?" Frosting asked.

I turned towards them absentmindedly, my mind not exactly focused on what was going on at the moment.

"Huh?"

"I _said,_ don't you think he's a douche?" she repeated, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah, he really is. Rude, I mean," I stammered.

"I _knew_ you'd agree! He needs some manners, gosh," Lexi complained as she walked ahead towards the direction that Tucker and his team went off to. I immediately panicked.

"Um, where're you going?" I asked, stopping in my tracks. Lexi turned around, slightly exasperated.

"Ashton said that Tucker had picked up on the scent, right? Well, that guy looked like he knew what he was talking about, so why not follow them and see where it leads?"

"Oh," I murmured, assuming that the Feraligatr was named Ashton," Right."

After about an hour, we had managed to advance to the eighth floor. I climbed up the final flight of stairs and sat down, analyzing our chances of finding the Ratatta before Team Escapade, because we were obviously on the same mission here.

"How about we split up? Then, if we find him, we can let each other know," I suggested.

"Great, but how are we gonna notify each other? It's not like we can just yell it out to the world. Then that freakin' Jolteon and his company will surely hear you and take all our credit," Lexi answered, turning her head slightly to the left as if she heard something.

"Oh, um. Just—I know! Take off your bandanna, grab a stick, and tie your bandanna to it. Put the flag up in a noticeable area. Deal?" Frosting offered.

"Okay, fair enough," I agreed.

"All in," Lexi added.

So we split up. I took the path to our right. Frosting went directly in front of us, and Lexi darted towards the clearing to the left. I trudged along through the tall grasses, ignoring the sounds of the leaves crunching beneath my paws. Weaving my way through thick branches and bushes, I found a break in the natural pattern of greenery. I went along with my gut feeling and crouched down, crawling a bit under a bush to find a small patch where it was secluded from trees and branches. It was just a grassy area with a single rock in the center, a patch of mint green moss shading the side of it. My eyes widened in curiosity, and I crawled in a bit farther.

Then, my nose twitched. I heard a ruffling sound, and it was pretty near. Cautiously, I peeped the tip of my nose through the leaves and sniffed.

"Man, this is a retarded mission," I heard someone grumble.

I darted my nose back in so as to not be seen, and silently watched the blue figure through the breaks in the branches. It was Ashton, I realized. He muttered a string of curse words under his breath as he kicked at a rock on the ground. Suddenly, the Ratatta we were looking for stumbled through a bunch of tall grasses, and Ashton turned around to face him. I couldn't just let him and his team be victorious and take credit for our mission and get the rewards that we deserved, so I crawled out of the bush.

Ashton picked up the Ratatta and turned to me, a surprised look on his face.

"Um, hey, you're that Eddy kid, aren't you?" he asked, giving me a sideways glance.

"It's _Edie, _not Eddy, but, yes, I am," I answered coyly, shaking my hind leg free from a twig. He looked me up and down slowly, then nodded curtly.

"Yeah. So…what's up?" he finally said, glancing around at the trees surrounding us. I cocked my head to the side, perplexed.

"What do you mean? I'm just…here," I answered in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I just asked what was up," he answered, his eyebrows stitching together in a tight line of annoyance.

"Oh…well, I guess nothing?"

"Yeah…_awkward."_

I felt slightly embarrassed, and my cheeks felt hot. I averted my gaze to the ground in an attempt to avoid his intent stare that I could just feel boring into my cheek. I felt as if he was analyzing me under a personal microscope, and I was growing shyer and shyer by the second, because I absolutely hate when people stare at me.

"Why are you so quiet?"

I snapped my eyes up at him.

"I don't know. Why are you staring at me?" I snapped defensively, probably sounding like a whining child.

"I was just lookin'."

He took a moment to scrape a clawed foot across the dirt ground before gazing out beyond the trees ahead of us.

"You have such a country drawl to your voice," he said coolly, not even bothering to look at me.

"No, I don't," I replied in defiance.

"Um, yeah," he barked quickly with impatience," you do."

"How so?"

"You drawl out your words and you just talk _so slow."_

I don't know if I was even more embarrassed or what, but I looked the other way and avoided his gaze again.

"It wasn't meant to be snarky. Don't take so much offense," he said in somewhat of a sarcastic apology upon noticing my submissive posture.

And then, as if on cue, Tucker and the other guy came darting through the trees. Tucker actually gave me a glance this time, before looking away after a split second. I really didn't want to be noticed by his teammates right now; I was embarrassed enough.

"Where's the Ratatta?" the Typhlosion asked eagerly.

"Calm down, Ralph. He's right here," Ashton answered, holding up the Ratatta for them to see.

Tucker nodded solemnly and looked my way again, giving me a glance that lasted a fraction of a second longer than it should have, and I failed to return it. My cheeks were smoldering furiously by now, and I hid my bashful expression upon my face by reaching up and wiping my eyes as if a gust of wind had blew debris into them. When I stole a quick look at Tucker, he was no longer examining me anymore, so I opened my eyes and shrunk back a bit against the bush I had previously concealed myself within.

"Well, let's go. That Whiscash is expecting us," Tucker finally concluded, turning to retrieve his badge from his backpack.

"Wait," I spoke up quietly.

All three of them turned towards me at once. I steadied my gaze on Ashton, the only one of the team that I was, if only a bit, comfortable with.

"I saw that Ratatta first. Our team needs the money."

Ralph looked at me incredulously, then exchanged glances with Ashton and Tucker.

"So…?"

"So I should be taking him," I pointed out, extending a hand towards the purple rat.

"Oh, well, you're out of luck," Tucker contradicted, taking a step towards me.

"I think not."

Tucker, Ashton, Ralph, and I turned towards the familiar voice and I smiled in relief. Lexi and Frosting emerged from behind a tree branch and stepped to my rescue.

"Are you guys stalking us or something?" Ralph asked, scoffing.

"As if," Lexi snapped with a flick of her tail.

"We're here on a mission. Edie saw it first," Frosting added.

"Gosh, do you know how _annoying_ that is? Let the girl speak for herself! Edie ain't a mute, and I doubt that she needs speech assistance," Tucker chimed in, tiny jolts of electricity sparking from the hackled fur on his back.

I was still slightly shocked at the fact that he said my name correctly and even made an effort to pronounce it impeccably.

"Look, we didn't come here for a fight, so could you just hand over the Pokemon and we can be on our way and get our _rightfully deserved_ reward?" Frosting requested.

"_Your _reward? Don't flatter yourself, honey. We deserve it just as much as you do," Ashton snarled, his teeth bared.

"Look, it's not that big of a damn deal. We can just split the reward," I began, exasperated and irritated.

"Split the reward? You must be outta your gawddamn mind! We own this!" Ralph interrupted.

"Enough!" Tucker finally shouted. Everyone went silent. "Either brace yourselves for an all-out battle or shut your yaps and quit your whining!"

Without waiting for a snarky reply from Lexi or a lecture about fairness and equality from Frosting, he turned his back to me and faced his teammates.

"Let's go."

And in a flash, they were gone. We had failed a mission. _Again. _Because of freakin' Team Escapade and that mean ass Tucker. _He_ was a piece of work.

"Ugh, let's go ahead and clear this dungeon. If we transport back, our mission will be deemed as incomplete. We may as well go all the way," Frosting suggested calmly, though I knew that she was pissed off just as well as I was.

"Yeah, I guess that's about right," I grumbled.

Lexi let out a breath of frustration and trudged behind us, glaring in the direction of where Team Escapade had once stood in all their arrogant glory.

The assholes.


	3. I'm a Ninja Brawler, Too

**Author's Note: **Has anyone gotten sick of seeing the word "dude" sprawled across every other paragraph? XD

Just kidding. But, no, seriously, dude. Are you tired of it, dude?

I'm gonna stop now. :D

* * *

><p><strong>-Tucker's Point of View-<strong>

"Gosh, Tucker, you suck. I'm, like, giving you a serious pounding on this," Ashton drawled in disbelief, not bothering to break his resolute concentration for a fraction of a second to even glance at me. He leaned towards the television screen, his tongue jutting out of his mouth as he glided his fingers over the buttons of the game controller.

"Well, I'm not exactly what you'd call a regular gamer, dude," I huffed in exasperation, reclining back against the couch. Ralph glanced at us out of the corner of his eye, then looked away with an amused expression upon his face.

"Ash, you take video games _way _too seriously," he said, stretching out on a cushion on the floor beside us.

"It's not just games for me, man. This is a craft," Ashton replied before pausing his game and turning his full attention towards Ralph.

"By the way, that new video game is coming out tomorrow morning, and I wanna be the first to get it. I figured that since we don't have any upcoming missions that maybe—"

"Forget it," I interrupted, already knowing all too well what he wanted to do without him even asking. I tossed my game controller aside and crossed my arms over my chest in defiance.

"Why can't we go? C'mon, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here, Tucks!"

"Oh, no, Ash. You're not dragging us down to the gaming store at twelve in the morning just to camp out so you can be the first to get your greedy little claws on the new game. We've been there once, and we're never going back there again."

Ralph snorted a laugh before flipping over on his stomach.

"Yeah; who knew those video game nerds could be so feisty!" he sniggered. I cringed at the memory.

One geek Scyther with this annoyingly high-pitched, nasal, eardrum shattering screech of a voice and his equally as nerdy Wartortle companion practically bulldozed me over just to get to the front doors of the store. I hated that place and Ashton knew it. It's a shame when you've received more scars and bruises on the sidewalk of Dinorex's Dungeon of Gaming for a few hours than you've received in a _lifetime_ of riding Salamences and surfing on Swamperts.

"Aww, Tucks! Come on!"

"I'm not going," I replied curtly.

"I can't go by myself."

"Why not?"

"'Cause Rex says he'll get me a 10% discount if I bring a friend."

"That's not a legit excuse. Take Ralph."

Ralph snapped his eyes over at me and shook his head frantically before sitting up from his position on the ground.

"That's not fair!" Ralph protested. "You still owe me from that night! Remember? I totally had your back, Tucker, and you told me that you'd do me a favor in return. So _you _go!"

I crinkled my nose and sneered at him.

"I can't go! I was planning on taking a hike through Mt. Steel today!" I whined.

"Oh well, dude! You're not going, 'cause you still owe me big time!" Ralph replied.

"_Please, _Tucker? I'll make it up to you," Ashton begged.

I glanced at each of their faces, flittering my eyes back and forth between them. Rolling my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest, I mumbled an agreement. Ralph laughed and punched me jokingly in my arm while Ashton reveled in glee.

"Who's getting _Ninja Brawlers 2: Fight to the Finish? _Ashton is! Ashton is! Ninja fighters! Dun-dun-_dun!" _Ashton chanted quietly, bobbing his head to his own beat. I shook my head and couldn't help but laugh along with him and Ralph.

Later that night, instead of being at Mt. Steel where I _should_ have been, I had to spend the freaking night in front of the entrance to Dinorex's Dungeon of Gaming. You'd better believe I hated every minute of it. Ashton even had the audacity to make me carry all his crap on my back while he led the way to the store. As if I didn't know where it was.

Ashton turned his head slightly at the sound of my heavy breathing and smirked. He stopped in his tracks to let me catch up, then slapped me on my back playfully.

"Ah, nothing's better than roughin' it up old-fashioned style, eh, kid?"

"We're camping outside of a game store, dude. Nothing old-fashioned about it," I retorted curtly, trudging passed him with a huff. He shook his head and chuckled before following after.

When we arrived at the entrance, I threw our sleeping bags down onto the concrete and plopped our backpack beside them. Ashton sat beside me and unzipped our adventure bag as I propped myself up on my sleeping bag, fluffing the pillow to get it at just the right size.

"Um, Tucker, where was your brain when you packed our 'pack?" Ashton suddenly asked, turning from the opened backpack to face me. I just barely heard much of what he was saying; I was tired, I didn't know what the hell he was talking about, and I wanted to go to sleep. Obviously he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Huh?" I replied obliviously, stifling a yawn.

"The food, Tucker," he began, eyeing me up and down," You forgot the food."

"No, I didn't," I contradicted, reaching for the backpack and digging my paws deep into the pockets. After a moment of scrounging the contents for food, I gave Ashton a nervous grin.

"I didn't forget it. _You_ forgot it. Forgetter," I mumbled in mock defiance, rolling my eyes then closing them to avoid his gaze.

"Dude, you totally screwed up everything. You need to go find some food. Now," he ordered, staring at me incredulously.

"Where am I gonna find food at? I don't wanna walk to Treasure Town; it's too far away, and we're just surrounded by woods, and—"

"Go hunting."

"_What?"_

I gaped at him in disbelief, my eyes widened. I wasn't going to go hunting. We would just have to starve to death before I went scrounging the trees for berries and such.

"Yeah, Tucker. It was your fault," he began, giving me a side-eye," so you need to go get us food before we disintegrate."

"We're only gonna be here a day!"

"Tucker!"

"Alright! I'm going!" I shrieked, standing up and stretching my hind legs taut. I glared at him one last time before turning from him to face the woods. It was dark, the trees were glowering down upon me menacingly, and there was an eerie chill in the atmosphere. But I had already agreed, and there was no turning back. Besides, I _did _want an adventure today, right? It was all just different scenery—a great opportunity, in all honesty.

I took a deep breath and trudged along past the store to the trees, stopping at the first patch of grass and turning my head to give Ashton a weary glance. He shooed me off carelessly and turned his back to me to signal that I should get a move on. Shaking my head in defeat, I sauntered off into the small woods. A Pidgeot flew overhead, the only sound audible being the faint flapping of its wings.

I pressed my nose to the ground and sniffed the dirt. My ears stiffened, and my fur began to bristle. I followed the scent that my nose was picking up, tiny jolts of electricity sparking from my fur as I got closer to my destination. When I finally found what I was searching for, I peered up to find a tall tree with a cluster of Oran berries beside the trunk. I shrugged my shoulders and smirked. _Easy pickings._

I lunged for the berries and had just sunken my teeth into one when I heard a low growl coming from the bunch of bushes closest to me. I swallowed the food I had in my mouth and placed the berry on the ground, crouching down in a battle stance. I was mentally and physically prepared for an all-out war, and I was ready to pounce on anyone who dared to face me. Growling out my war challenge, I inched a bit closer to the bush. A long pause of silence passed, and my nose twitched in anticipation. I was ready. So, _so_ very _ready._

Suddenly, a dark figure shrouded within the shadows and cloaked in darkness leapt out at me and tackled me to the ground, the only thing I remember seeing being the pearly white fangs that the beast had bared. I was sent spiraling to the ground, and we tumbled and rumbled and flipped about through the bushes. It was a battle of fangs; sharp, strong fangs that tore through fur matted with blood and pierced through sensitive flesh. It was a battle of claws; barbed, serrated claws that slashed to the bone and drew rivulets of blood. I clamped my teeth down into the blade of my attacker's shoulder, biting down until I heard them cry out in surrender. I reluctantly let go and glared at its cowering form. But when the moonlight shifted the shadows, I could just barely see my opponent's facial features.

I climbed off of its legs and snorted something that was somewhat of an insincere apology and sat down beside it.

"Oh, you're that Eddy kid," I grumbled in disappointment. I rolled my eyes in exasperation and sighed. I really wanted a real fight around here, and here she comes, rumbling and tumbling through the bushes like some queen-of-the-jungle that she _knew _she wasn't. What business did she have being out here alone anyway? Wasn't it past her bedtime?

"It's _not_ Eddy."

"Whatever."

I glanced over at her carelessly and rolled my eyes in disgust. I couldn't help it; she was just _that _kind of person. So weak. So lame. So fragile. So…_Edie._

"I think you almost snapped my shoulder," she whispered, squinting her eyes in pain then giving me a weak smile.

"Well, I've been adventuring for as long as I can remember and I've been into scraps with Monster Houses of strong Pokemon, been battered and scarred by jagged mountains during Charizard-riding sky diving gone terribly wrong, and I've nearly been killed in a—" I stopped myself short as the traumatizing memories flooded back into my mind. Edie gave me a concerned look and nudged me with her paw. I involuntarily inched away from her and sneered.

"You stopped talking for a second," she stated, blinking at me. I groaned in utter annoyance. Gosh, how dumb could she be?

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled. "But yeah. I've nearly been killed in a…storm, if you will. So what the hell are you complaining about?"

"You don't have to be so bitchy about it. Gosh, I was just stating the obvious here."

"Obviously."

She slowly sat up, grimacing with pain. I rolled my eyes and rose up, absolutely refusing to acknowledge her any further. She stared at me for a second, then averted her gaze to the ground.

"You're real moody."

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head slightly to face her.

"And you're real annoying. Bitch," I retorted curtly, giving her a frigid glare. She seemed taken aback by my cutting words and furrowed her eyebrows, sniffling. That sound made me fucking sick to my stomach and nauseous with profound hatred, because I just knew that a long line of gawddamn slobber and slime and snot was hanging from her nostrils by now. Ew, was she crying? I could just picture her face twisting up in this ugly expression while her eyes reddened and shit. Ewww. This girl was disgusting as hell, and I wanted in on no part of this bullshit. I turned, grabbed as many berries as I could in my mouth, and headed for the store. I had to get away from her. She was just so…_weird._

"Aye, Tucker! You got the food?" Ashton asked when he saw me trot through the thick of the woods. I couldn't exactly speak straight, so I dashed over to our site and dropped the contents of my mouth onto his sleeping bag. He grimaced in disgust and stuck his tongue out.

"Dude, you're weird and nasty," he mumbled, shooing the berries away from him. I gaped at him in disbelief.

"What the hell? You know what I went through to get this? What's wrong with 'em?" I asked.

"Dude, they came out of your freaking mouth, you asshole. Damn, you're odd."

"Well, I don't exactly have the convenience of opposable thumbs nor hands for that matter to assist in picking up berries, bitch," I grumbled. Ashton chuckled and stood up.

"Somebody's cranky. Anyway, look, just guard our crap and I'll go get the rest of the food. Where ya found 'em at?"

"That tree."

"Real specific, asshole."

He trotted off towards the woods and I tossed an Oran berry into my mouth in sheer boredom.

He better not take too long, either.

* * *

><p><strong>-Edie's Point of View-<strong>

I wasn't crying. My eyes just water when I get upset. I'm easily broken. I was just sitting there pathetically when Tucker left, staring up at the tree that we had fought at. Why did he hate me so much when I didn't even know him? What the hell did I do?

"Man, I'm gonna whoop Tucker's ass when I get back," I heard someone mumble off in the distance. I turned my head slightly and realized that it was Ashton. I looked around frantically, then sighed in gratitude. He hadn't brought Tucker with him.

"Aw, hey Eeds."

I snapped my head up and noticed that Ashton was standing before me. He quirked an eyebrow at me and laughed, which made my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I hated when people laughed at me; it made me feel as if I was diminished to nothing.

"What are you doing, weirdo?" he asked jokingly, watching in amusement as I fidgeted uncontrollably. See, I am a very nervous Pokemon, easily embarrassed. I fidget when I'm anxious, and I stutter, which always contributes to my downfall. When I'm talking nervously, I tend to speak at a rapid pace and blend words together and stutter out of fear that someone would lose interest in what I was saying. My mind and my mouth don't work on the same schedule, so I end up sounding like a mental asylum escapee.

"N-n-nothin'."

"Obviously you are. You're all shaking and vibrating and stuff. You look cold."

"I not."

"What?"

I'm _not cold," _I enunciated, drawling out every syllable cautiously. He smiled even wider.

"There you go drawling out like a country person. You're not form Treasure Town, are you? You must be from Pokemon Square or something."

"I'm not," I answered quickly, scooting away from him.

"Really though, what's wrong?" he asked, taking an Oran berry from the pile beneath the tree. "I've got all night, trust me. Let's talk, Edie."

I swallowed in slight discomfort and uncertainty before shaking my head.

"None wrong." I had meant to say "nothing's wrong," but I unconsciously blended my words together again and slurred my speech.

"It's something, Eeds, I'm not slow."

"It's nothing!" I shrieked defensively, feeling that I was being interrogated and judged. I was often paranoid of others and panicked when I was being suffocated. I preferred to be detached from strangers and Pokemon I knew nothing of.

Ashton blinked in temporary astonishment, then sighed.

"You're just like Tucker. Both unemotional assholes that go bat-shit insane when they get around anyone. I swear, you're both deranged."

"What're you talking about?"

"You and Tucker. Doing a comparison here. You're both mean and socially challenged. I swear, you kids, like, get a freakin' anxiety attack when someone talks to you."

He stared at me seriously for a moment, then chuckled before taking a bite out of his berry.

"But it's okay, though. Tucker's not really mean like he seems, so you're probably not, either."

He took a moment of silence to glance at the pile of berries on the ground, then he gathered them up in his arms, turning towards me with a small smile.

"Well, see ya later, Eeds," he said nonchalantly before walking back towards where he came from. I sighed and walked back to where Frosting and Lexi were probably waiting for me.

Why couldn't Tucker be more like him?

* * *

><p><strong>-Tucker's Point of View-<strong>

I woke up this morning to Ashton breathing right in my fucking face, emitting all his horrible early-morning breath and sending it directly to my nostrils. I blinked, then rolled him off of me.

"Dude, what's your problem?" I asked sluggishly, shutting my eyes to block the dull gray-blue sky. It must have been 5:00 in the morning; why was he up?

"The store opens up in thirty minutes. We're here first. Now go wash your face at that ditch and come back here before the line gets too long!" he ordered, snatching my sleeping bag off of me and shoving me off towards the direction of the woods. I stumbled off and staggered over to the ditch, sitting beside it lazily, hunched over, staring in the murky waters. I splashed my face for a moment, then headed back for the store. I wonder why Edie was in the woods anyway at the worst possible time.

When I came back to our sleeping bags, a mother Swampert with her teenage Marshtomp son and his Grovyle friend were behind Ashton. Ashton waved me over and I dashed over to our place, standing beside him in line.

"Aww, _mooom! _That Jolteon totally skipped us!" one of the Pokemon behind me said.

"Just be patient, honey, we're second in line."

"But _mom!"_

"Newman, if you don't stop complaining about the wait, we're going to go home and drop Blitzen off at home!"

I smirked at their conversation and sat down on my haunches in boredom. Twenty minutes had passed. The line had now extended past the shop and swept around the corner back towards the front of the shopping plaza. In another ten minutes, Dinorex walked up to the front of the line and unlocked the doors of the store.

"I, Dinorex, along with everyone else at Dinorex's Dungeon of Gaming, are proud to present to you the brand new video game _Ninja Brawlers 2: Fight to the Finish. _The first twenty people who buy it also receive a complimentary ninja wristband! Come on in, everybody!" Dinorex announced before leading everyone into the huge store. The walls were white with red and black paint splatters, and it was decorated to look like an actual dungeon. The game shelves were stacked high to nearly the ceiling, and in the far back were the new video games that everyone came for. Ashton dashed towards it as soon as everyone else made a run for it, and I just stood back and watched in awe. Eventually, Ashton clawed his way out of the all-out brawl and smiled in triumph as he grabbed my hand and led me to the cash register.

"What's up, Ash?" the Charmeleon cashier asked, reaching across the counter to give Ashton some dap. Ashton apparently knew everyone at the gaming store, and he used this to his advantage.

"Nothin' much, Jyson. Just chilling with my good ol' buddy Tucker."

Jyson looked at me, then nodded his head in a greeting.

"What's up, Tucker?"

I nodded at him in reply. He smiled and typed up something on the cash register.

"I get a discount, too. Ten percent off," Ashton reminded, beaming the whole time. I shook my head and chuckled at him. Jyson rang up his discount and ripped the receipt out of the slit, handing it to Ashton along with his game in a bag that had the store's logo sprawled across the front in black and red graffiti letters and his black wristband with _Ninja Brawlers 2: Fight to the Finish _written across it in big, bold blue lettering. Ashton grinned even wider and we walked out of the store.

"Dude, you're weird," I snorted, laughing hysterically.

"I am officially a ninja brawler," Ashton replied, smiling at his wristband.


	4. I've Seen Sparks Fly

**Author's Note: **

We're finally out of school! More time for updating, am I right? :D

Hey, guys, not that I'm complaining or anything, but if you read this and haven't reviewed yet, please do! I'd love to know exactly what elements of this fiction piece that you actually like, so I'll be sure to add more. Reviews make me smile! Really, I don't like to beg for reviews, but they'd help a lot with my writing. That's the whole point of fan fiction, right? To critique and be critiqued?

And happy authors equal better, more descriptive writing! :D

Also! I know that in Treasure Town, there is no Pelipper Post Office or Whiscash Pond, but in my fic I'm making them in the same places as they were located in _Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red/Blue Rescue Team,_ just so we're clear. Makes it easier.

* * *

><p><strong>-Edie's Point of View-<strong>

I really didn't want to go out of town today, but the preparation was already complete. Last night, Frosting had assigned Lexi and I different jobs to get ready for the big trip. She had sent me off to the woods to fill our backpack with as much food as it could hold, and she sent Lexi out to Treasure Town to purchase the essentials.

When I got home from a tiring night of scrounging, I stayed up for hours thinking about what Tucker said. I didn't mean to; it just came to me, so I contemplated on it. I knew I shouldn't have, because our team was heading out early in the morning to hit up Treasure Town, then going to the Sinnoh region to visit Frosting's great grandmother. This trip was extremely important to her, and she wanted everything to go as planned.

I had failed to even receive a wink of sleep last night, and I was far from prepared. I couldn't get Tucker out of my mind. I just didn't see why he was so impudent and rude with me when I do nothing to him.

I tossed and turned in my bed furiously before glancing at the clock. I may as well get up and wash my face, because in five minutes everyone would be up, anyway.

Grunting, I sat up from my awkward position on my bed and stretched my arms before walking quietly towards the front door, cautious as to not awaken my roommates. I stepped over the deep purple mat on the wooden floorboards and sauntered outside, crossing over the damp grass blades of our lawn to get to the pond. I sat down beside the small pearly stones that bordered it and cupped my paws, reaching into the pond and scooping out a small amount of water and splashing my face with it. The water was unusually cold, and the breeze was cooler than normal, probably due to how early in the morning it was. It was still rather dark outside, and the sky was brushed with strokes of purples and blues with the occasional swipe of pink. It looked like one of those watercolor paintings that you see in a museum. Everything is so beautiful during the morning. I love it all.

When I turned back to get to the house, Frosting was just coming out of the door, a distressed expression upon her face. Lexi followed closely behind her, dragging our adventure bag along with her teeth.

"Gosh, Edie, I thought you ran away or something. You were just out here all along," Frosting spoke first, shaking her head incredulously.

"Sorry. I just woke up early."

She nodded and floated on past the stone path that led to the road, motioning for us to follow. We turned left towards Treasure Town and walked in silence until we came upon the path leading up to all of the shops. I sat on my haunches and looked around. Only a few people were out shopping, and most of them were rescue teams that were preparing for a mission. A few shops were closed, but the majority of them were up and running.

"So. Where we goin' first?" Lexi asked, glancing about the shops as I did.

"First, we need to pick up and store some items at Kangashkan Storage. We can skip the Kecleon Shop today, because we already gathered what we needed. We'll head over to Duskull Bank and withdraw a hundred Poke, then go to Pelipper Post Office to receive our paperwork and go to Whiscash so he can approve of this trip, since it's not a rescue mission. He should let us, though, since we've completed all our missions for this week ahead of time and have gotten our credits registered," Frosting answered, closing her eyes as she mentally mapped out and analyzed our options.

To go through with a mission or a recreational trip, rescue teams have to receive the paperwork and stuff from Pelipper Post Office. Then, they have to get everything approved from Whiscash. Depending on their rank, every team has a certain amount of missions they have to complete to reach their goal for that week. For example, a Normal Rank team has to complete two missions a week to get their full credit, then a Bronze Rank team has to complete four. The amount of credits that need to be completed to reach the requirements basically go up by two points for every higher rank, with Lucario Rank having to complete fourteen missions a week for full credit. To get credits registered, however, after completed missions the Pelipper Post Office automatically registers it as 'successful' or 'unsuccessful,' which contributes to their overall average team grade. For every unsuccessful or incomplete mission, they go down five points. Recreational trips do not count against your grade.

Upon seeing Lexi's and my saddened expression, she sighed and smiled, already knowing all too well what we were pouting about.

"And," she began, smiling," if everything goes as planned and we have enough time, we'll head over to Spinda's Café."

"Yes!" Lexi and I exclaimed in unison, throwing our arms around Frosting's neck in an embrace of gratitude.

We walked on to Kangashkan Storage, Lexi and I sitting down patiently so Frosting could handle her business in peace. We were growing restless and hyper, and we kept exchanging knowing glances with each other.

We loved Spinda's Café ever since we first began our rescue team. We went there as often as Frosting would allow, and there was never a moment when Spinda was in a financial bind—all thanks to us, mind you. There was once a time when Frosting, like the motherly figure she is, had agreed to award Lexi's and my good deeds with an allowance of five Poke each. Thanks to those fabulous smoothies and delectable beverages at the café, that bit of money burned holes in our mouths and paws and wherever else we held it.

Lexi gave me an exasperated look. I furrowed my eyebrows, looked up at Frosting, then groaned in impatience. She was taking _way _too long. I nodded at Lexi and winked at her, then stood up.

"Hey, um, Frosting?" I whispered, tapping her on the cottony fluff that protected her body. I was beginning to think that she hadn't even felt my tapping because of all that cushion back there, but she turned around to face me.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" she replied in annoyance, turning halfway to point out an apple to Kangashkan.

"Well, since you're so occupied, Lexi and I figured that we'd help with the errands. Lexi can do one thing, and I'll do another. That way, we'll finish a lot quicker, and we can all meet up at the post office," I offered, forcing upon an innocent expression and batting my eyelashes at her.

"Hmm, not a bad idea, Eeds. Sure. You go deposit our money at the bank, and Lexi will go with you." She turned to Lexi, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Unless," she began," you'd want to go off to the post office to get our paperwork. Or! Maybe she could—"

"Bye, Frosting! We're leaving now!" I interrupted, dashing towards Duskull Bank behind Lexi. Frosting always was a bit indecisive, and we'd be here all day if I hadn't cut her off like I did.

I skidded to a halt at the counter of the bank as Lexi raced passed me to get to the post office.

"Why, hello there, Edith. What are we doing today?" Duskull asked as he materialized before me. I smiled at him politely and leaned forward a bit.

"Oh, we're just withdrawing a hundred Poke," I replied, opening our bag.

"Sure. Let me get it."

He disappeared for a moment, then appeared again, a bagful of coins on the counter before me.

"Have a great day, Edie. Tell your teammates I said 'hi,'" Duskull concluded before disappearing again. I nodded and snatched the sack off of the counter, throwing it into our bag and closing the latch as I zipped off towards the post office. When I arrived, Lexi was just dashing out. We collided in the middle of the pathway and flipped over from the impact.

Grimacing, I sat up, rubbing my head as I smirked at her.

"We are _so_ getting another Totally Twisted Berry Splash Smoothie," Lexi said, beaming widely as she stood up.

"You know it!"

"Girls? Have you completed your jobs?" Frosting asked as she floated behind us. I sprang up to my feet and nodded excitedly. Frosting took the paperwork from Lexi and skimmed over the printing as if checking for accuracy and correctness.

"Okay, let's go get approved, then we'll be all set," she added, turning back towards Treasure Town. Lexi and I sped in front of her, racing towards Whiscash Pond.

We were running so fast that we hardly had any time to stop in time as we flipped over the shoreline into the cool waters. Lexi bounded up to the surface and swam over to Whiscash before I could. It took me a while to rise to the surface, but when I did, I swam over to the stone pathway and perched myself up on one, leaping from stone to stone until I met up with Lexi and Whiscash. Frosting flew up behind us and floated overhead.

"We have some papers that we want to be approved. For a trip to see my grandma," Frosting said, handing the papers to Whiscash. He read over it, then shook his head, his long, golden eyebrows furrowing.

"What's wrong?" I asked in concern.

"This trip is recreational. It isn't a mission with an objective. We're held liable if one of you doesn't return," he replied, glancing between each of us.

"We'll all return safely! We promise!" Lexi cried, climbing atop of a rock platform and shaking her fur dry.

"That isn't enough. We're under legal contract to keep our rescue teams safe. Either you don't go, or we get our strongest team to accompany you on your voyage."

"Sure, we'll do anything!"

Whiscash nodded, then swam over to another platform. He pressed a button on it and spoke into the speakers. When he was done talking, he swam back over to us.

"I'll approve of this, but you aren't leaving until the team gets here," he said, stamping the paper with a large, red print. I lay down on my back and closed my eyes in an attempt to make the time pass by quicker. In about five minutes, I heard the voices of another rescue team. I snapped my eyes open in excitement, thinking that some legendary team like Alakazam's would accompany us. I, along with Frosting and Lexi, groaned and rolled my eyes.

"They _can't _be your strongest team!" Lexi groaned in protest. "You have teams with Lucario Rank! Why them?"

"Alakazam's team is on a mission, and the other strongest are out of the region in an S-Rank mission together. Team Escapade is our strongest and best freshman team within their ranks. I mean, their stats are stupendous, and with the level of missions they complete, they should be bumped up to at least junior status. They're all we've got left, and they make our overall report card look astounding. You should be honored," Whiscash answered proudly.

Whiscash and the National Rescue Team Association also came up with a new system of ranking teams to help divide them up a bit more. When you first start out on a rescue team, you're automatically registered in freshman rank. Your rank is determined by how long you've been a team. Freshman rank is one to two years, sophomore rank is four to six years, junior rank is eight to ten years, and senior is twelve to fourteen years.

Lexi thought that all these subcategories were rather unnecessary, but I didn't mind them much.

"You act like we're not strong enough to fend for ourselves," I answered sullenly.

"Hey, we didn't ask for this, either," Ralph chuckled, his shoulders rolling back arrogantly as he walked towards us. Ashton followed behind him, his arms folded behind his head in relaxation. Then, there was Tucker. _Tucker._

He walked behind them the coolest of them all, his fur bristling with every step. His eyes flickered over to mine immediately, and they lingered there for a long time before he averted his gaze to Whiscash as if that look he had just given me was simply casual. It was anything _but._

"So. What are we here for again?" Ashton asked Whiscash, flashing his eyes over to me. Why was everybody looking at me?

"You are to escort Team Crescendo to the Sinnoh region," Whiscash ordered calmly.

"The Sinnoh region?" Tucker finally repeated, quirking an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little far to be going on foot?"

I couldn't help it; I stared. It was just how he said it. So cool. So casually. So as-if-he-didn't-even-care. So _Tucker. _

"I suppose, but these ladies can't rough it by themselves."

"Oh, whatever!" Lexi exclaimed. "We didn't need them. _You_ wanted them to escort us."

"Oh, right. Because weak little girls like you need big, strong men like us," Ralph teased, winking at Lexi. She rolled her eyes at him in defiance before sauntering past him, brushing against his shoulder insolently. Frosting followed close behind her. I gave Tucker one last glance before skipping along after them to catch up.

"Are we still going to the café?" I asked childishly.

"I guess," Frosting mumbled.

We all turned to the left until we reached Spinda's Café. Lexi and I tore off towards it, bounding through the entrance before everyone else did, startling Spinda. He dropped his glass that he was cleaning on the floor, and it shattered across the tan, woodened floors, sending the fragments skidding across the floorboards.

"Gawddammit!" he whispered loudly, bending down to pick up the broken shards.

He snapped his eyes up at us and smiled somewhat apologetically.

"Sorry for my language, girls," he chuckled nervously. "What would you like?"

Just then, Frosting and Team Escapade walked in through the door. I glanced at them for a second before turning my attention back towards Spinda.

"Um, I'd like a Totally Twisted Berry Splash Smoothie," we answered in unison. Spinda nodded and threw the last of the broken glass pieces into the trash before walking back behind his counter.

"You got the berries?" he requested.

We reached into the adventure bag and brought out an Oran berry, a Cheri berry, a Rawst berry, and a Sitrus berry, placing them on the counter. He grabbed them and put them in the blender, flicking the switch before turning to everyone else.

"What would you like?" Spinda asked to no one in particular.

"Swirls in the Sky Frosty, please," Frosting answered sweetly. Spinda nodded and extended his hand. Frosting gave him a sky blue gummi.

"What would you gentlemen like?" he asked.

Ashton, Ralph, and Tucker looked between each other in confusion. They obviously haven't been here before. If I wanted this trip to go right with absolutely no fighting, then this was my chance. I cleared my throat and forced myself to stare at Tucker until he met my eyes. He blinked at me, as if he was challenging me to speak up.

So I did.

"Hey, Tucker, I suggest you try the Sparks Fly Thunderbolt Hurricane. I heard it's really good."

He blinked at me again. Ralph looked between Tucker and I. Ashton smirked and winked at me. I swallowed, then smiled at Tucker. I could have sworn that the corners of his lips curved up in a slight smile. It was hardly noticeable, but it was still _there._

"Thanks," he mumbled, walking past me towards the counter without looking back. I mean, I couldn't expect him to do much better, but he was _Tucker. _That was good enough for me.

I handed Spinda a yellow gummi and a Sitrus berry to make Tucker's drink. Ashton ordered the Johto Mud Slide, and Ralph ordered the Fire It Up Outrage Explosion. When we all received our orders, we all sat down at a table; Team Crescendo at one, Team Escapade at the other.

Ever since I said that suggestion to Tucker, he kept stealing glances at me as if he was trying to decipher my true intentions behind my offer. I looked down at my drink and blushed every time, refusing to look at him. My cheeks were burning again, and his staring wasn't helping the situation any further.

After we finished our drinks, we headed out past the outskirts of town and stopped at the Sharpedo Bluff.

"So how are we gonna get to Sinnoh? We're jumping from region to region, here," Tucker said.

"Easy. You guys will surf on Ashton until you get to Canalave City, and my team will fly there. My grandmother will be waiting there," Frosting answered.

"That'll take at least six hours! I'm gonna be tired, dude!" Ashton said in disbelief.

"We gotta do what we gotta do," Lexi sighed.

"But it'll take too long. Too many wild Pokemon lurk about. You guys have nothing to worry about when you're in the freakin' sky," Ralph argued.

"Will you sissies stop bitching and get your asses down in that water?" Lexi asked in exasperation.

"Not until we have another right of transportation," Tucker added.

"Where are we gonna get you guys some more transportation?" Lexi asked, shaking my head.

"I'll go get a train schedule," I finally added after a long pause of tense silence.

"Tucker, go with her," Ashton demanded.

Tucker and I snapped our heads in his direction. Ashton nodded as if confirming his order, then shooed us off with his hand. I turned back towards the direction of the town and started off, Tucker a bit behind me. I walked up to the Kangashkan Storage and waited for the owner to notice my presence. Kangashkan smiled and walked over to the counter.

"Well, hey, Edie and Tucker. What'd you guys like today?"

"Do you have any transportation schedules?" Tucker spoke up before I could.

"Oh, sure, sweetie, hold on just a second."

She turned and hopped over to a small rack at the back of the shop and grabbed a pamphlet from it, turning back towards us and placing it on the counter.

"Is that all?" she asked politely.

"Oh, yes ma'am. Thank you," I replied, giving her a grin before sliding the brochure off of the counter and turning to walk to Sharpedo Bluff.

When we were a good distance away, Tucker shook his head and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked curiously.

"You. You're so polite. 'Yes ma'am'? I've never known too many people to say that," he snickered.

"Yeah, well, my kinfolk raised me like that," I replied wearily, beginning to feel as if he was judging my country upbringing.

"'Kinfolk'? Gosh, Edie, you're hilarious," he snorted before walking on ahead of me, laughing all the way.

I stayed behind, looking on at the back of him in disbelief. I hated when people laughed at me. And maybe I was blowing it way out of proportion, but I couldn't help it. With Tucker, you just didn't know if he was laughing with you or at you.

When I gathered the courage to meet up with everyone else, I sat down as far away from Tucker as possible, refusing to even look at him.

"Okay…so there's a listing of Pokemon leaving for different regions at Charizard's Sky Alliance…Flygon's flight is leaving to go to Hoenn at around five o'clock…but Salamence's flight is leaving to go to Sinnoh in thirty minutes! Let's go to the CSA Sky Port!" Frosting read aloud.

Charizard's Sky Alliance is a popular, fast, and efficient way of transportation, located in the downtown area of our town. It was a massive sky port that took up a humongous piece of land. When you get there, there are different wings and different doors to go through. Instead of having actual Pokemon flying you to your destination, you ride in a skyrocket, as Charizard liked to call them, and you only make one stop: your destination. The wings were organized by what times and regions they were going by. Some flights only left at night, and some only left during the day.

The skyrockets are decorated according to their flight attendant. The skyrockets have somewhat of a shuttle rocket appearance and are colored to match the Pokemon that flies it. It's more on the length side rather than the weight, so it can only hold up to twenty Pokemon at a time. Sometimes a flight can have too many passengers, so they always make sure that rescue teams board first. Normal Pokemon need a pass, but rescue teams need only show their badge and tell them their name, so the flight attendant can look them up to make sure that they are actual teams.

"No! We can't! I _hate_ flying! We've gotta take a train," Ralph insisted, shaking his head in strong disagreement.

"But flying will be so much more efficient," I argued.

"I don't care! Check out the train schedules," he replied.

Lexi snatched the pamphlet from Frosting and skimmed over it.

"There's a train going to Sinnoh in about an hour. That's the only time for the region we're going, and that'll take way too long," Lexi sighed. "Ralph, you've got to get over your fear of heights or whatever."

Ralph stomped his foot in anger and shook his head again.

"I'm not going, then! Leave me behind!" he argued.

"Stop being a baby, dude, or else this mission will fail!" Tucker snapped.

"I don't care!"

"Dude!"

"If I agree to sit by you, will you come?" Lexi offered. Everyone went silent. Ralph beamed widely and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Let's go," he said, running off towards the direction of Treasure Town. We dashed behind him, ripping past the shops towards the dirt path to the left. We dashed past our team base and down towards the road that led to the downtown area. Tucker was ahead of the pack, leading us to the sky port. He skidded to a sudden halt, and everyone else stopped abruptly, too.

"Dude, what's up?" Ashton asked in concern. Tucker looked around at our surroundings before averting his gaze to the far left. He must have spotted the sky port, because his fur bristled and sparked with tiny jolts of electricity.

"Come on," he said, dashing along the concrete path towards our destination. Pokemon of all different kinds were crowding the busy streets, filing down the stairs that led to Sandslash's Underground Subway Station. As we grew closer and closer to the sky port, I noticed that Pokemon were beginning to fill up the Salamence skyrocket. We hurried along the bridge that connected the sky port to the rest of downtown and scurried through the clusters of busy Pokemon and stopped in front of our flight wing. We were just in time.

Salamence opened up the lid of his rocket and scanned over us.

"You guys leaving for Sinnoh?" he asked, studying our bandanas.

"Yes, sir," I answered. Even though we were in a rush, I still remembered my manners. My dad would have been so proud.

"Y'all a rescue team?"

"Yes, sir."

Lexi pulled out our badge, and Tucker pulled out theirs. Salamence observed them for a moment, then nodded in approval, adjusting his flight hat atop of his head.

"Come on in."

We boarded the skyrocket and sat down in our seats, the red sliding door on the ceiling closing just as we sat down. I flicked my bangs out of my eyes in silence and observed the dark turquoise interior. Salamence grabbed the intercom dispatcher and put it to his mouth as he pressed a few buttons on his control pad.

"My name is Ace, and I am your flight attendant for today. We will be leaving in one more moment. I would appreciate if you do not talk obsessively loud or be obnoxious in any way, shape, or form."

He flicked a switch, and all the lights dimmed with the exception of the dotted bulbs that lit up along the walls. He pushed up a lever and tipped up his hat.

"Strap on your belts and enjoy the ride."

And with that, we sped out of the gates. My head banged against the wall and I grimaced with slight pain, reaching up to rub my throbbing head. I realized then that Tucker was sitting right beside me, to my right. I quickly looked away and looked to the left of me. Frosting was animatedly chatting with an elderly Smeargle about painting. I was growing desperate then. I looked directly ahead of me. Ralph was harassing and flirting with Lexi, and Ashton was reclined back in his seat playing his game. It was just Tucker and I. There was no getting away from this.

At least the lights were dim enough so Tucker couldn't notice my expression.

I was completely bored out of my mind. There was nothing to do but stare at stuff. There weren't even any windows; the only place you could look out of was the front windshield or the transparent, ruby-tinted glass door on the roof. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably and glanced at Frosting. She was still talking. I really needed someone to chat with. Other than Tucker, I mean. Not that he'd talk to me anyway.

"Edie?"

Oh my goodness. I hit my head again accidentally on the wall and grimaced, biting my lip to ignore the buzzing pain. But Tucker _talked_ to me. _He said my name._ This was the third time today. He was on a roll.

"Yeah?" I replied, my voice just barely a whisper. I even sounded as lame and desperate as my facial expression. He probably thought I was _such_ a wimp.

"Oh," Tucker said, shifting a bit in his seat. He turned his head to face me a bit. I looked down at my feet immediately. "I was just seeing if you were still up."

"Yeah?" I went on, way too excitedly. As if he would go on to ask me for conversation over tea and crumpets or something. Gosh, what a _loser_ I was.

He furrowed his eyebrows and gave me a confused glance before turning away from me and lying on his side against the seat. Since no one was on his right side, he took up that space, too, and stretched out against the deep red cushions.

"You're such a weirdo," he chuckled before resting his head on his seat. His ear touched my paw. It touched it. I think I'm obsessed with his fur now; it's so perfect and spiky with this mixture of golden blonde fur and white. I looked away and glanced over at Ashton desperately. He looked up from his game and smirked before resuming his playing.

I sighed, because I just _knew_ that this would be a long, agonizing trip.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Out of fear that this chapter is gonna extend forever and ever, I'm going to break it up into two parts. This is Part 1 of this chapter.

Review, please! :3


	5. The Ocean's Melody

**Author's Note: **Thanks so much for the reviews! I got four in one day! :D

Keep it up, guys! Also, you guys must know by now that I tweaked the PMD world a bit. I know they have no airports, but you know that little area that you have to Rock Climb to get through by the Hotel Grand Lake in Sinnoh? I'm making an airport on that land—just imagine it bigger, 'kay?

Also, when I have a short time lapse during the middle of the story, I switch to Edie's point of view. I didn't want to just come out and say it; I felt that'd sort of ruin the flow. :P

Thanks so much! :D

* * *

><p><strong>-Tucker's Point of View-<strong>

At some point during our flight, I woke up to find Edie's head on my side. She must have fallen asleep after I did. Her mouth dropped open a bit, and a long line of slobber connected my shoulder to her mouth. I grimaced with disgust and carefully sat up so as to not disturb her. Her cheek twitched before she rolled over on her side. I stretched out a bit along the seats and looked out of the window. We were flying overhead a vast sea. Ace grabbed the intercom dispatcher and directed the plane to the left.

"Passengers, we are now entering Sinnoh. Please remain seated and strapped as we enter through the airport gates. We are directly above Route 213 and Valor Lakefront."

The passengers erupted in a round of applause and began to gather their belongings. I felt a nudging in my side and looked down to see Edie's head on me _again. _I groaned and rolled her over. This time she awoke with a start and blinked at me. I waved at her to go back to sleep, but she leaned towards the window and gazed out of it instead.

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice raspy and hoarse.

"A place."

"What kind of place?"

"A place where you go."

She narrowed her eyes at me and rolled her eyes.

"Must you be so sarcastic?"

"I didn't realize I was using sarcasm."

"Well, you are."

"You're cranky when you get up."

"I'm not cranky."

"Don't argue with me, Edith," I growled, rolling my eyes and shifting in my seat so I faced away from her.

"Why are you so mean and moody?" she asked. I didn't even bother to answer. I looked on the seats opposite me and saw that Ralph was the only one up out of him, Lexi, and Ashton. Well, I couldn't really tell if Ashton was asleep or not; he always sits in this awkward position that makes him hunch over.

The skyrocket landed through the gates, and the red door on the ceiling slid open. The lights flashed on, and Ace stood up from his seat in the cockpit and raised the red curtains as he stepped through them.

"We have safely made it to sky port. Please unfasten your seatbelts, gather all of your luggage, and file off of the skyrocket in somewhat of an orderly fashion."

I got up from my seat and reached across the aisle to shake Ashton. He woke up and swiped at his face before glancing about at our surroundings. Noticing the Pokemon beginning to get out of the rocket, he mumbled something under his breath and shook Ralph. I looked over at Edie. Frosting had to practically manhandle her out of the doors. Edie was all over her and drooling on her fluff as she carried her out of there. I followed Ralph out of the doors as Ashton dragged Lexi along with him. When we were all standing by the gates in a group, Frosting gently lowered Edie to the ground and let Lexi wake her up.

"So. Where do we go from now?" Ashton inquired, stretching his arms across his chest.

"Well, my grandma lives in Hearthome, but she told me that she'd be waiting at this airport for us and to wave at her when I see her," Frosting said, looking out into the mass of entangled Pokemon.

"Do you see her?" I asked, scanning the room with my eyes.

"Nope."

"What does she look like?" Edie asked, rather naïvely, if you ask me.

"What do you _think_ she looks like? She probably looks like Frosting with wrinkles and gray-ish fluff," I replied curtly. I didn't intend on sounding so snappish, but I really didn't care at the moment. She gave me a funny look, but kept her mouth closed regardless.

After a long pause of futilely scanning the room, I dug my nose to the ground in impatience and sniffed around. Then, I became even more frustrated when I realized that I had no idea how this lady smelled. I sat on my haunches and rolled my eyes in frustration. Ashton accidentally stepped on my paw, which made me even angrier. I was deep breathing like a fucking maniac by now, and my shoulders were heaving with every breath.

"Found her," Lexi finally announced. I looked up in curiosity, because her voice sounded as if she were far away. Come to find out, she was sitting on Ashton's shoulders to get a good view. That made me _furious _because _I_ should have found Frosting's grandma instead of her.

Everyone followed after her, and I moped behind them all. I was in a bitching mood, and I didn't want to be bothered at the moment. Edie saw my somber frown and slowed down a bit to let me catch up. Luckily for me, by then she knew that when I was in a bitching mood that it was best to leave me alone and not push me to express my feelings or some bullshit like that. I didn't like to talk when I was mad. I liked to mope by myself. She just walked with me and sort of kept her distance.

When I finally reached everyone else, Frosting was already chatting with her grandma. I sat down beside Ralph and glared into space.

"I was beginning to think that you lost your way! You never told Gramma that you were on a rescue team," her grandmother said, her light silver eyes sparkling with avid elation.

"Yeah, and these are my teammates," Frosting introduced, gesturing towards Edie and Lexi. Lexi smiled and waved, and Edie, being Edie, just had to drawl out her introduction in the politest way possible, complete with that signature cocking of the head with a sweet smile and her eyes widened in innocence. It was absolutely hilarious. I could have just burst out in hysterical laughter at any moment.

"Well, for right now, we can get the rest of the introductions out of the way when we get back to the hotel. I rented you a single bungalow to stay in, since I didn't realize you'd have so many friends with you. Sorry about that."

Fuck. So now I'd have to share a room with Team Annoying Asses? No. Hell no. It just couldn't happen like this. I didn't want my last few moments on Earth to be shared with these jungle monkeys. Just kill me now.

As we began to file out of the sky port, Frosting's grandma went into this long tale about how "back in the day" she and her crew were the strongest rescue team. They were called Team Dynamite, and it consisted of her, a Milotic, and a Lucario.

"We were all beautiful and strong in our own ways. The way we battled together with such an effulgence, the way our attacks moved with each other's in perfect, melodious harmony to help us win a victory…that was a beautiful thing," she went on to say. I'm glad to see that she wasn't one of those boring grandmas that talked on and on about nothing at all. She was interesting, and I learned a lot from her in such a short amount of time.

"We were among the first to battle Mewtwo. We lost, but it was a beautiful loss. It felt as if we had earned it through hard work and sweat," she reminisced.

"But, Gram, how was it beautiful if you lost? Weren't you upset?" I asked curiously, walking along side of her as if I were her grandchild. It seemed as if I was the only one truly interested in Gram's tales. Then, realizing I had called her a name that I'm unsure of how she would take it, I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"I mean, you're okay with me calling you Gram, right?" I asked, hoping that it sounded at the very least as if I was attempting to be polite.

"Of course I'm okay with it, hun. Are you okay with me calling you that?" she asked in somewhat of an amused voice. I glanced at Ashton and Ralph. They were snickering at me, but I didn't care.

"I guess so," I answered, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Gram chuckled and gently pulled me a little closer to her.

"Well, it was a beautiful loss because we weren't expecting on winning. And even if we did, it wouldn't mean much to us. Brutal battling wasn't our thing; we had a much more carefully drawn out, strategic approach to battling. We lost with our dignity and our love for Pokemon. We respected Mewtwo, and we accepted our defeat. But, in a sense, it wasn't defeat at all."

I nodded thoughtfully and stopped walking in my tracks as soon as my paws stepped onto the shore of the beach right along the sky port building. I looked down at my feet, then at the sand, then at the calm waters that were lapping at my paws.

_Trying to take me under. Calling for me to rescue my mother. Pulling at my heartstrings and singing to me a song that only a survivor could comprehend._

As Gram started talking again, I tuned her out and slipped into my subconscious. All thoughts drifted from my mind, and suddenly I was driven by sheer emotional impulse and strong will. I rushed off into the water as deep as I could and forced myself under. The rippling waters suffocated me, filling my soul with memories and flooding my thoughts with emotion. I gave myself up to the waves, surrendering my soul in exchange for my mother. I blinked. The water flowed over my fur and stroked my ears. Suddenly, nothing was calm anymore. My arms were flailing. My jaw was clenching. My lungs were smoldering and burning and I was gasping. The once clear, sky blue waters were now terrifying and murky and blackened as my eyes began to close. I wouldn't dare give myself up to the Sky Monster that took my mother. He wasn't going to take me. Not today. Not now. Not ever.

Suddenly, two pairs of arms wrapped themselves around me, and I was thinking, _He's taking me, he's taking me, I'm his. _

But when they pulled me up and I broke the surface, gasping and hacking up salty storm waters, I realized then that I had survived again. He wouldn't take me today. Not now. Not ever.

"Dear heavens, Tucker, what's gotten into you?"

I opened my eyes; let them adjust to the fact that they weren't witnessing death by storm any longer. Gram was floating over me now, a concerned expression upon her face. I coughed and sat up. I was sitting on the shore of the beach now, and everyone was staring at me. I only wanted to talk to Gram. Blocking my face from everyone with an arm, I shook my head in somewhat of a reply and mumbled something that sounded a bit like," nothing's wrong."

I immediately got up from the middle of the crowd and walked towards the Hotel Grand Lake reception building, sitting by the rocks, far away from the water. I was quivering now, and I realized that Edie was beside me. She didn't talk, as I was hoping for; just listened to my silence and waited.

"Tucker?" I stared at her. She gave me a glance, then shook her head.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That stunt you pulled back there. What's wrong with you?"

I looked away from her and rose up on my feet.

"Something you'll never know."

And with that, I walked right passed her.

When we followed Gram to the Hotel Grand Lake reception, she told us to just "chill and max out" in the lobby while she could see if they had any other bungalows—whatever the hell that was—to let the guys sleep in. I swear I would marry Frosting's grandma if I could. She's that cool. I thought she'd be this old, uptight, bitchy lady that uses a hearing aid, but she's _so_ not. She doesn't even look old. Her and Frosting could be sisters.

"Guys?" Gram called out. I immediately sat up from my lying position on a beanbag beside Ralph and Ashton and gave her my full attention. If anyone in the world were able to capture my solicitude like that, it'd have to be Gram for now. She was just so captivating in that old-person sense. Like, I felt as if she was my long lost Gram. _My_ own Gram. And she even let me call her that.

"Yeah, Grandma?" Frosting piped up. I was about to snap at her that Gram was _my_ grandma, but I had forgotten that Gram still belonged to Frosting.

"They're all out of other cottages, hun," Gram said. I knew she was talking to me, because she only called me her "hun." Cottages? Bungalows? Gosh, Gram was amazing. What would she call the suites next? A lodge?

"That's fine," Ralph answered casually. I couldn't help it, but I glared at him for a second, because Gram was talking to _me _and not him and he ruined that little moment for me. Ralph noticed and started snickering that I was so protective over someone else's grandma. I think I was obsessed with Gram, but I didn't care.

Grabbing two suite keys from the counter, she turned towards the exit of the reception and motioned for us to follow. I was the first to follow after her, of course, followed by my boys then Edie and her team.

"Now, I'll go to my room and you guys will go to yours for a few minutes to freshen up. We'll only be here for a night until we leave tomorrow for my hometown. But in about ten minutes, I'll come and get y'all and we'll go out to eat. Sound good?"

We all cheered in reply. Gram smiled and began to walk off towards her cottage-bungalow-lodge.

"Wait," I softly called out. Gram turned around and smiled. "Can I come with you until we leave?"

"Dude, no," Ashton said, grimacing as he grabbed my wrist. "That's perverted and odd. You're coming with us."

Gram tossed me our room key and went into her suite. I unlocked ours and stepped in, followed by everyone else.

Lexi flicked on the lights. I didn't take any time at all to awe at the interior; I didn't really care about what it looked like much. I sat down on the couch with Ashton and Ralph as the girls observed the walls and the ceiling and stuff like that.

"So. We've gotta do something entertaining for ten minutes," Ralph began, stretching out along the arm of the cerulean couch.

"I know," I agreed. Ashton mumbled in reply.

After a long pause of silence, I finally came up with it.

"Wanna play Hit and Run?" I suggested, my eyes sparkling with eagerness.

"What? Tucker, I'm not a murderer, dude," Ashton replied, eyes widened.

"Not that kind, you fag. It's a game I made up," I said, beaming.

"I don't think I'd like that game," Ralph said uncertainly, giving me a suspicious side-glance.

"Of course you would. It's a game where we all hide with the lights off. When we hear someone coming, we attack 'em, then make a run for it."

Ashton thought about it, then nodded. Ralph still looked unconvinced.

"I'm in, but what do you think the girls are gonna say?" Ralph finally said.

"We could invite them to play," Ashton suggested.

"No," I countered.

"Why not? They're gonna get mad if we just play with the lights off while they're doing girly stuff," Ralph explained. I thought a moment, then sighed in surrender.

"Okay, but they better not whine about getting hurt."

Ralph scratched his stomach, then called out for the girls. Frosting floated over to him and looked at all of us suspiciously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Wanna play Hit and Run?" I asked.

"What?"

I explained the game to her, then asked if she would play. She told me to hold on so she could consult Edie and Lexi about it. Gosh, it's like everything a girl does she has to tell her friends about it. Why couldn't they just make a decision on their own?

"Fine, we'll play," she said when she came back. Edie and Lexi followed her over, and they sat down in patience, waiting for the game to begin. I motioned for Ashton to hit the lights. He turned them off, and counted to ten.

Then, the game began.

My number one rule when playing this game was to be as aggressive as possible and never let your guard down. Listen to every slight little noise, and especially be on the alert for aerial attacks, considering that Frosting was the only flying type in the game. I heard a tapping noise behind me. I rolled my eyes in the dark; that was the oldest trick in the book.

Usually when people are trying to ambush you in this game, they'll get one person to distract you with a noise coming from one direction so that you get so engrossed in trying to investigate that sound that you're susceptible to being taken from every other angle.

But my downfall was that I over-analyzed my possibilities. Someone tackled me from the left side, and I'm pretty sure by just feeling the fur detail of the unknown Pokemon that it was probably Edie. She yelped, which was so Edie-like, and scurried off. I used my recoil to my advantage and hopped up on my toes, chasing after her as quietly as possible. But, just when I was so close to getting her in the corner, some oaf freaking manhandled me out of the way. The clumsiness and lack of planning in the attack automatically gave away that it was Ralph, so I bit him in the leg to tell him that I wasn't one of the girls.

"Ow!" he shouted in astonishment. Then and there, I sped away from him as if my life depended on it. Now, everyone knew where he was, so he'd be getting tackled from all over. When I thought that everyone was busy mauling him, I snuck around to the left of the brawl to go at them all from an angle. But just when I made a dash for it, I saw a flash of what may have been a small ember and glanced in its way. I knew Edie must have used it to see better, so I stepped away from the crowd, getting pounced on in the process. The Pokemon giggled and ran off, and I just _knew_ that it was Edie.

I whirled around and accidentally tripped over a body, stumbling down onto them and making a loud crashing noise. I tried to scramble up and get out of there, but they dog-piled me and had me pinned before I could make a run for it. I was entangled within an endless pile of limbs and fur and scaly gator skin, and I had no way of getting out.

Then comes Edie, snapping her way through the pit and dragging me by my leg from underneath the weight. She tackles me and laughs, indicating that she's frisky and she wants to play.

I growled at her and tackled, dashing away for a fleeting second just before she attacked me from the side and grappled me to the ground. I snorted in response, and she laughed even harder, thinking that it was the most hilarious thing ever.

It was then that Gram decided to knock on the door. Everyone froze, held their breaths, and stayed silent.

"Clean up!" Lexi whispered. Ashton dashed towards the light switch and flicked it on.

"Just in moment, grandma!" Frosting called out as she raced over to the bed with Edie and Lexi to fix the comforter and sheets that had been thrown every which way in our game.

I grabbed all of the pillows littered along the beige carpeted floor and tossed them onto the bed and sofa. Ashton motioned for everyone to settle down, and I flipped myself over the couch just in time as Gram walked in through the door. She stepped inside, gazing around at the suite and smiling approvingly.

"Are you guys all set to go eat?" she asked, leaning against the azure front door of the cottage. I loved the door. I just adored how they had these little ripple marks and grooves carved in to make it really look like the ocean. I'm so glad Ralph opened the windows when we got in. I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent of salt water and sun. It was one of those rare moments when you're just really alive.

"Yes, ma'am," Edie answered for us all. I was pretty hungry, considering the fact that I haven't had anything to eat all day.

"Let's get going, then."

**…**

I hadn't realized that this restaurant would be so extravagant and fancy. Seven Stars Restaurant, it was called. It _was_ deserving of seven stars; I'd give it that. It was the best restaurant, supposedly, to ever grace the grounds of Sinnoh. Laid out along Valor Lakefront, it certainly was beautiful.

Upon entering, I automatically felt out of place and inferior compared to the elegant Pokemon that sat around their reserved tables, speaking in hushed tones and making toasts over bubbling glasses of champagne. There were fancy creatures of all kind, dressed in elaborate dresses and intricate tuxedos, all probably ordered from Holly's Closet, a famous chain of apparel and accessory boutiques that were only accessible to _the _richest.

The ceiling looked like on of those from a ritzy ball in England, complete with a golden, diamond-encrusted chandelier for a light source. The walls were beige with occasional stripes of ocean blue, as to match with the general design of every other building owned by Hotel Grand Lake.

After Gram conversed with the waiter at the front door, he directed us over to one massive, family-sized table in the back and handed each of us a menu.

"Please alert one of the waitresses or waiters when you are ready to order. A waitress will be at your assistance in a few moments to fulfill your beverage requests. Good day," the waiter said before whisking away.

I sat down in a seat across from Ashton and opened up my menu, even though I wasn't quite focusing on it. Ashton kept kicking me under the table, and I finally glanced up at him. He gestured towards an empty seat beside me and pointed at Tucker, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. My jaw immediately dropped, and I shook my head quickly in disapproval.

He smirked and nodded in contradiction before calling Tucker's name. I picked up my menu and hid behind it as if I was actually reading it. Tucker snapped his head in Ashton's direction and told him to wait a moment.

I thought it was absolutely adorable how he was so obsessed with Frosting's grandma, though it was a bit creepy, to say the least. After about five minutes, he sat in Ashton's reserved seat, but Ashton shook his head, pulling Tucker up from his seat and swapping seats with him to where Ashton was diagonal to me and Tucker was directly in front of me. Like, he was _right there._

I glanced at him from the top of my menu and hid my head when I caught him staring. He sure didn't even try to conceal it, either. He was just this whole package: take it or leave it.

I gave Ashton a desperate look. He ignored me and continued his conversation with Ralph intentionally. Frosting was talking with her grandma, and Lexi had now joined in on Ralph and Ashton's conversation. So it was just Tucker and I again. Ashton was really good at this.

"So…what are you getting?"

I looked up from my menu in plain, wide-eyed shock.

"What?"

"I _said,' _what are you getting?'" he repeated, staring at me intently. Gosh, he terrifies me. It's just how he looks at me. And he throws bitch-fits like a maniac.

"Oh, umm…" I haven't even actually been looking at the menu. I glanced at the beverages section and skimmed it quickly before blurting out the first possible drink that sounded good.

"A raspberry lemonade," I said. Then, to be polite, I flashed my eyes to him. "You?"

He reclined back in his chair and replied simply," What you're having."

The way he said it, yet again, sounded so pretty. I didn't even know how that was possible; it just _was._ _Anything_ was with Tucker. When I looked up, he was staring at me pretty indiscreetly. I tried to stare back, but I just couldn't, so I looked back at my menu. When the waitress came, I mumbled my order to her after everyone else and only hoped that she heard me correctly.

"Edie."

I loved the way he said my name. I instantly looked up at him from underneath my eyelashes, waiting for him to bark orders at me or something. Instead, he didn't say anything. It was almost as if he had just said my name to get used to the feeling of saying it or something. He closed his eyes and hummed for a while until the food was served. He was an odd kid.

I just sort of picked around at my dish of shrimp etouffee, all the while stealing glances at Tucker. Suddenly, I heard a loud sizzling noise, and my first instinct was that something was on fire. I was just beginning to stand up when I realized that it was simply Ralph's tray of sizzling Cajun steak and shrimp with sautéed mixed vegetables. I looked over at Frosting. As usual, she just had a salad, and her grandmother had the same. Ashton also had a sizzling tray coming up, instead holding spicy Asian shrimp and loaded mashed potatoes. I felt so plain. Even Tucker had something that looked interesting. Lexi had nothing but her drink, so maybe I wasn't alone here.

After everyone got done eating and saying their goodnights to Frosting's grandma, everyone pretty much crashed wherever they could. I thought I was the only one awake, so I went down to the beach to clear my thoughts. I had just closed the front door of the reception behind me and began to walk down the stairs to the sand when I saw Tucker. Poor thing. He has this crazy obsession with the ocean ever since that thing happened earlier. I didn't want him to drown himself, so I sat down beside him by the shoreline where the waters just lapped at our feet.

He knew I was here. I knew he knew I was here. He just either tuned me out intentionally, or he was already in some transfixed state of mind. I feel so bad for him; I just want to save him from whatever's hurting him, but he won't let me, because he's untrusting and never opens up. Maybe that's the reason he's so cold to me and only lets in people like Ashton and Ralph. They probably know the whole story behind his life. _Well, Tucker, I want to know it, too._

I closed my eyes and flashed my mind back to when he was practically drowning himself in the water. He just ran towards it as if he was attached to it somehow, as if the ocean was a part of him. Then, things just got scarier and scarier from then on. He started flailing his arms and legs. He started to go down under. He started to drown.

Just as I opened my eyes again, I heard him whisper my name, in that same way that he had said it earlier at the restaurant, as if he was trying to fully comprehend some deep meaning behind my name. He said it as if he was trying to compare how it would sound in his mouth when he says it, how it would roll off his tongue just as easily as he wanted it to.

"Edie…Edie…"

And he just repeated it a final time before getting up and leaving me on the shore by myself, with nothing but the ocean waves and the scent of saltwater to accompany me.


	6. If I Should Die

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much for the reviews, guys! :D

BTW, sorry that the trip is taking up so many chapters! D:

I'm aware that a Zorua comes from _Pokemon Black and White versions, _but in this chapter a certain one lives in Survival Area. You'll see. :3

I also altered the name of the Wi-fi Plaza from _Pokemon Platinum version. _I renamed it as Arcanine's Arcade and Gaming Plaza.

* * *

><p><strong>-Tucker's Point of View-<strong>

Today, we arrived in Hearthome City, Gram's hometown. We had to pack up again and head out early to catch a flight. Gram's gotta pretty sweet place. It's so froufrou and fancy, but it's totally Gram. She has three guestrooms, so we all agreed that each team shares a room, and the remaining one will be left vacant.

It seemed like as soon as I had finally gotten a bit of time to rest after a long day of traveling, Gram had something else for us to do. Part of me wanted to stay in bed all afternoon and sleep till daylight, but the other part of me was curious and was eager to find out what Gram had planned for us today. I mean, she's Gram, so it must be something at the very least worthwhile.

Suddenly, Lexi and Frosting swung open the door and stepped inside. Ashton looked up from his handheld game console in annoyance, then realizing it was the girls, his features softened a bit. Ralph stared at them as if they were retarded, and I just sort of glanced their way carelessly.

I mean, they were the _girls. _We were used to them and their antics; they were practically one of us now, anyway. We thought of them just as regular buddies now. As a matter of fact, they were cool enough in Ralph's book to give them nicknames and ruffle their hair like they were Ashton or I. We were our own little family now. Ashton even let Lexi hold his game once so he could wash his hands. That took a certain amount of trust; Ashton hardly even trusted me around his dumb games.

"You fucking savages. You practically bulldozed the damn door down!" Ralph snorted, giving Ashton some dap—their "manly" version of a handshake— and laughed along with him.

"Shut up," Lexi replied simply, rolling her eyes though she couldn't help but smirk. "Gram says to come down to the family room after you get done freshening up."

"Don't call her 'Gram,'" I replied curtly. Lexi rolled her eyes and walked out. Frosting hovered by the door for a moment longer.

"Grandma says make sure you look at the very least presentable, because we're going somewhere really special," she informed before drifting off.

I glanced at Ashton, then at Ralph. Ashton had turned off his game and looked at me, too, and Ralph just lay on the bed and gazed up at the ceiling, his arms folded behind his head. Already knowing that, like me, they weren't about to bother with "freshening up," whatever the hell that meant.

"Let's go," I said, sitting up from the bed and making my way to the door as they followed behind me.

As I descended down the staircase, my eyes widened.

"Frost, what are you _wearing?" _I asked, scrunching my nose as I walked towards her. Ashton looked her up and down and looked away. Ralph just walked over to where Lexi was standing and pulled her ear. I swear; Ralph's got a thing for her.

Frosting twirled around, the voluminous skirt of her dress fluffing out as she did so.

"You mean to tell me you don't like it?" she asked, staring at me incredulously. I mean, her dress certainly was _extravagant. _It was a deep, royal blue with these white crystals adorning it. She had in a matching bow at the top of her head, a glittery, silver heart in the middle of it.

"…Why?" I said, not knowing what else to say. She was too dressed up for just a normal day.

"It's family tradition. The guys wear a navy jacket with a silver tie, and the girls wear a navy dress with crystals on it. This dress has been passed down from generation to generation. We always wear it to contests in Hearthome," she replied simply, gesturing to her grandmother.

I looked on at Gram and noticed that she, too, was unusually dressed up.

"What contest?" Ralph asked, his eyebrows furrowing. Lexi and Frosting stared at him in astonishment.

"What do you mean,' _what contest?'" _Lexi asked, blinking in disbelief.

"I hadn't known what a contest was, either, until Gram told me," Edie suddenly spoke up. I hadn't noticed her before, but she was sitting in a chair in front of Gram, getting her bangs brushed to the side. Gram snapped a silver, sparkly barrette where her bangs fell and turned towards us.

"Well, sweetie," Gram began," a _super _contest is a tradition here in Hearthome. Pokemon from all over come here annually to participate and enter into the contests. The first part is the visual competition."

She took a moment to fluff out Frosting's wings, then continued.

"The visual competition score consists of two parts: the condition portion and the dress-up portion. The condition part is based off of how high their, well, condition is in the specific category. For example, if a Pokemon has entered in a Smart contest and her "smart" condition is high, then she'll get extra points."

"Wait, then how many categories are there? And, about the smart contest, do they make you spell really long words or something?" I asked curiously, tilting my head to the side in confusion. Gram chuckled and shook her head.

"It's not like that at all, hun. You'll see when we get there."

**…**

When we entered the super contest hall, I couldn't help but to gaze around at my surroundings, making it obvious that I'd never set foot before in a contest hall. This must have been _the _spot to be, because it was swarming with clusters of Pokemon. Pokemon of all kinds were walking about, and a faint, sweet scent lingered in the atmosphere. I lifted my head up and sniffed the fragrant air. It smelled slightly of muffins, but perhaps I was just misguided by my nose and was truly just hungry.

There were a group of Glameow sauntering around, a single Smeargle with thick, black-framed glasses observing the paintings of Pokemon on one of the walls, and many others that diversified from one another so incredibly that I had long given up on trying to identify every single being present.

"Cool, isn't it?" Gram asked to no one in particular, smiling and inhaling the sweet air. She glanced at the front counters, then back at us.

"Guys, listen. I have to go get us our seats at the registration counter. You're welcome to look around if you'd like until I call you back," she said calmly before turning and floating off. I scanned the area quickly with my eyes in boredom and shrugged my shoulders. Everyone else gradually split up, and I soon decided to go my own way, too. I took my time walking over to a little blue couch off in a small corner of the building. I sat down and just stared off in the distance for a while before stretching out along the cushions. After a long pause of doing absolutely nothing, I shifted a bit and lay on my back. I was growing restless, and I was bored out of my mind.

"What are you doing?"

I turned my head slightly at the unfamiliar voice. At first, I thought it was Edie because of the question, but realized that this voice was too deep, too raspy, too harsh to be Edie. Edie had a sweet, quiet tone to her voice, and she had a familiar country twang and slurred her words unconsciously. This Pokemon had somewhat of a boyish voice—but still had a hint of feminine quality—and the words were, in fact, not in the least slurred, rather they were sharper and quickened. I'm not quite sure if that's how they talked down here in Sinnoh, but I had never heard that way with speaking before.

When I looked, it _certainly _wasn't Edie. This Pokemon was a deep gray shade with a thick ring of onyx black fur circling its neck, and had a short, foxy appearance. Its prominent, piercing eyes stared at me in resolute concentration, and for a moment, as I stared back in defiance, light aquamarine met my deep emerald. I averted my gaze to the tuft of gray and red fur at the top of its head, and realized that it was definitely female. I think her kind is called a Zorua or something like that.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, scrunching my nose involuntarily. I hated it when Pokemon just interrupted my boredom unexpectedly and without giving a warning beforehand.

"I'm talking about _you," _she snapped, looking me up and down. "You're just sitting there like a lump with no life, when you're in one of the most exciting places in Sinnoh."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. This chick could not be serious. Who in their right minds tell Tucker how to live his life? Is she suggesting that I'm a boring lump with no life? She must not know.

"So what are you saying?" I asked defensively. She gave me a bored look and rolled her eyes.

"I'm saying that you need to get up and do something."

"What makes you think you can just tell me what to do? Do you know who I am?"

"Nope." She gave a fake smile. "Enlighten me."

That pissed me off beyond belief. I was furious. These Sinnoh Pokemon really thought they were something. If we were back in Treasure Town or if she would have been trash talking in a mystery dungeon, I would have clobbered her single-handedly. She was so lucky that we were in the wimp region where you'd probably get in trouble for brawling in public. So, so lucky.

"I'm Tucker. _The _and my unstoppable, undefeatable, all-powerful, indestructible rescue team—Team Escapade—hail from Treasure Town, a small town with a big reputation. We make you wimpy Sinnoh Pokemon look like babies. We could _crush _you in battle," I bragged. I was perfectly aware that I was stretching the truth a bit, but I was in it to win it, baby. I'll make sure she knows who I am.

"Yeah, yeah, these city Pokemon _are _spoiled and can hardly fight to save their lives, but that's not exactly fair to generalize _every Pokemon _that's here. I, for one, hail from the strongest place in the Pokemon _world_ — Survival Area."

By then, I was fuming. I had stepped down from my spot on the couch and gotten right in her face. We were glaring simultaneously now, fangs bared.

"And, let me just say to you, our Pokemon are far stronger than your little rescue teams. If yours are so strong, then why do they need to have an entire team to back them up?" she went on to challenge, smirking all the while.

And then, just when I was about to retaliate with some snarky response, she walked a few steps away from me and shrugged her shoulders, all hints of defiance gone from her features. I was confused. I thought she wanted to fight.

"What are you doing?" I asked incredulously, scowling at her.

"I didn't come here to fight with you," she replied, sitting down on her haunches. "I came here because I was bored, too, and just wanted to screw with you."

She examined my facial features, then chuckled.

"Your big ego and pride for your hometown was just an added plus. You're really easy to get mad."

I sat down beside her, staring at her suspiciously as I did so.

"So…what now?" I asked. She glanced at me, then scanned the room with her eyes.

"I don't know. Why are you here? I mean, you say you hate the city and stuff, so answer that for me," she finally answered after a pause of silence.

"Recreational trip. I originally didn't want to come, but it's alright, I guess."

After that, we were like long lost buddies. We chatted for a while about our lives, nothing personal, just general summaries. She's really funny and sarcastic, and she actually has a backbone, unlike _someone. _When I throw a rude, sarcastic, snarky comment—one that would have made Edie go to tears—at her, she snaps back with one of her own that is just as rude and mean, if not worse; complete with a sardonic smirk, because every master at the fine art of satire knows that sarcasm isn't complete without a signature smirk.

"Y'know what? We've been talking all this time and I don't even know your name yet," she said after we had a long laugh over weak Pokemon.

"Well, my name's Tucker," I said. She snickered. I glared at her, beginning to feel as if she was judging my name for some unknown reason.

"What's so funny?" I asked, feeling my voice rise an octave or two.

"Your name. It rhymes with fucker," she wheezed between laughter. I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"What's yours, then?"

She stopped laughing and stared at me.

"My what?"

"Your name."

"A name."

"What kind of name?"

"A name that you call someone."

"Just answer the damn question, you asshole."

We laughed hysterically for a few minutes before she swiped at her eyes, suppressing a chuckle with her arm.

"But seriously, my name's Taylor."

"No shit. You act like a Taylor."

She scrunched her nose at me.

"How does someone _act_ like a Taylor?"

"It just _fits."_

Suddenly, I felt a firm tapping on my shoulder. I turned around to see that it was Ashton.

"What?" I said expectantly.

"Gram says that we're all set to go. Come on," Ashton replied, tugging on my ear. I winced a bit and told him to go on without me. He refused to go, so I let him stand over Taylor and I.

"Hey, where ya going, Tuck?" Taylor asked curiously.

"To this contest that I _really _don't want to go to. Wanna come?" I asked.

"No shit, Blockhead. That's what I came here for."

I rolled my eyes and smiled before gesturing for her to follow us. We dashed over to Gram and the others just as they were walking through the doors to the contest arena. The arena was huge, with a sparkling tile floor that glistened in pale yellow, with a pale blue Pokeball in the center. The judges' table was directly in front of the performance floor, and their table was decorated with blue and yellow crystal accents. Gram had gotten us some pretty good seats, so we sat about three rows away from the floor. When we all took our seats, I looked down our row. Gram was sitting off to the far left, then Lexi, then Ralph, then Edie, then Ashton. I realized that Frosting was missing.

Leaning to the left so Gram could hear me over the hundreds of thousands of Pokemon present in the stands, I shouted," Where's Frosting?"

Gram simply smiled and told me that she'd be here in due time. I didn't exactly get it, so I just sat back in my seat and joked around with Taylor.

Suddenly, a booming voice interrupted our laughter and startled me, making me jump involuntarily.

"Hello, citizens of Hearthome City and beyond!" the emcee spoke into the microphone. I peered down upon the performance floor and saw an Ambipom with a black tuxedo and matching top hat on standing in the middle of the yellow Pokeball. He had a wide, blinding smile plastered on his face as he walked the floors. He reminded me of one of those hosts on TV that had a wide smile, a dimpled chin, and slicked back hair that had the booming voice.

"My name is Jack Palmers, and I will be your dashing announcer and fantastic emcee for this year's super, fabulous, ultra-rank beauty contest! This is only the best of the best, here, kids—no amateurs here! See, when Hearthome does contests, they do it _big! _Are you getting all this? Do you hear me? Big, I tell you! So, without further ado, I shall now introduce you to your contestants that have made it thus far! Give them a round of applause in advance!"

The crowd broke out into frantic cheers, and one Pokemon even threw a bouquet of flowers at Jack. He smiled widely and picked them up, winking in the general direction of the way the bouquet came and clicked his tongue against his teeth twice.

"That was real sweet, toots. I'll have to see you after the show," he teased into the microphone. The crowd cheered for that, too. He walked back towards the middle of the floor, taking a step a bit further and extending an arm towards the back of the arena. The lights dimmed, and a foreign smoke began to generate. The deep gray clouds began to cloud my vision, and I couldn't see a thing.

Suddenly, in the middle of the room, a swirling twister of water broke through the smog. It froze in midair, and then another icicle was formed. Finally, once the fog began to lighten up a bit, a Milotic with a light blue veil crowning her head and a diamond band around her neck standing on an ice-formed pedestal arose between the two ice pillars. The crowd cheered so loud, the stands vibrated and the sound of their uproar reverberated and bounced off the walls. I admit, I did too; that was really clever how she used a Hydro Pump, then froze them with an Ice Beam. Even through their frozen form, you could see the detail of the ice and still see the white rings around the water shaft.

"Your contestant number one, Brooklyn the Milotic! She has come all the way from the Hoenn region to compete, guys, give her some love!" Jack boomed. The crowd followed his request and cheered. I looked on at Taylor, expecting her to be laughing at this entire production, but she was watching vigilantly as if she was thoroughly entranced. I sat back in my seat and watched, too.

"Next!"

Brooklyn came down from her pedestal and walked out of the door that she came. The lights dimmed again, but this time, no smoke was present. Again, it was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. The crowd whispered amongst themselves in excited, hushed chatter. Then a horse or something like that started galloping across the floor, increasing in speed with every step. It leapt into the sky, and for a second, I thought it was a fucking unicorn or something, because it had sparkling magic fairy dust shaking everywhere as it leapt. Then, it front flipped in midair and kept flipping, its flames on its mane and tail enveloping its body in a Flame Wheel. The crowd went wild, but I just didn't see why. The presentation was okay, I guess, but it wasn't anything special. It was kind of awkward watching it, actually.

When it finally landed, the floor beneath it erupted in flames, so it looked a lot like a magical fairy-unicorn-thing smoldering in Hell or something like that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Delilah the Rapidash!" Jack announced. "She came all the way from the Kanto region just to perform, so I think she deserves a hand clap for that one!"

After Delilah's presentation, a Kirlia named Candice went. Her turn was "cute," I guess. She had started out in the center of the floor doing ballet and spinning, all the while using her Psychic powers to make her props of choice—pearls and crystals—swirl around her as she turned on her tiptoes. It was okay, nothing special.

The fourth competitor was a Nidoking named Terrence, which was freaking awesome because there was finally a dude in the contest. Never mind, because I just remembered that this is a _beauty _contest. He's screwed, 'cause he sure isn't all that pretty, if you ask me.

But his performance was so utterly awesome that I cheered the loudest out of everyone for him, along with Taylor. He came out in the center and delivered a strong Earth Power, and the ground erupted into flames and stuff. He was thrashing around and stomping, and his eyes were glowing bright blue, like a dungeon dragon or something like that. He was throwing rocks and boulders around like they were nothing, and his performance was simply amazing. I could do better, though.

When he cleared the stage, the lights dimmed again, and you couldn't even see an inch in front of you. I was eager to find out who was the last contestant, and I was growing restless and kept fidgeting in my seat. Then, I heard something. It sounded faint, as if it was off in the distance somehow. I leaned to my left and whispered to Ashton.

"Do you hear that?"

He listened for a moment, then agreed that he had heard something. I asked Taylor and got the same response, just to be sure that I wasn't going delusional with anxiety. I strained my ears to listen, and they twitched with anticipation. I finally picked up on what general direction the sound was coming from, and electricity began sparking from my fur in excitement. Suddenly, the sound grew louder, and it sounded like someone singing. It was a beautiful, high, soprano voice that sounded like a hybrid between a whistle and a song. I felt something sprinkling onto my fur and looked up. More magic pixie dust crap was falling out of the sky. When I looked on, I saw a huge cloud floating along, and it was obviously the source of the singing.

When the cloud gathered at the center of the floor, I realized that it wasn't a cloud at all.

"That's Frosting! That's Frosting!" I exclaimed loudly. Lexi leaned across Ralph and told me to shut the hell up. I couldn't help it, though. _That's_ why she was wearing that dress.

She had a Machoke playing the harp for her as she sang to the music. The crowd sighed in adoration and whispered about the display. I smiled, because that was _Frosting_ up there and not just any random Pokemon.

"Pokemon of Sinnoh, this is Frosting the Altaria. She hails from Treasure Town, and she is actually on a rescue team! Give her a hand, everyone!" Jack spoke.

Everyone clapped, and Frosting and the Machoke walked out. The lights flashed back on, and Jack Palmers stepped out on the middle of the stage.

"Now, I shall introduce to you the judges for today's contest," he announced, gesturing towards the judges' panel. The first judge, a Piplup with a white suit and purple tie, waved at the crowd and flashed a shy smile.

"This judge right here is Jordan. He's been a judge for six years here, and we're honored to have him judge yet another beautiful presentation."

The judge in the middle, an Alakazam with a graying, curly mustache, a brown top hat, and a matching suit, nodded curtly when Jack pointed at him.

"And this! This guy right here is your loveliest, lovely judge named Dexter! He has traveled the world's four corners as a Pokemon ranger and coordinator, but has long since retired that in exchange to be a contest judge. If you're trying to win a contest, then this is the guy to impress. When his voltage points are filled to the max, you gain extra points."

Then, the last judge, an unusually slim and petite Audino with a humongous teal bow on the top of her head that matched her eyes, smiled and used big hand motions to wave at the crowd. She seemed hyper. Maybe someone spiked her drink.

"And this is my lovely lady Keira! She has been a coordinator for six years before becoming a contest judge," Jack introduced. The crowd gave a round of applause as Jack neared the stands.

"We will now allow the judges a few moments to judge the contestants on the visual portion of the competition."

After a long pause of quiet, excited chatter, Jack coughed into the microphone and grinned as Dexter handed him a slip of paper. Jack skimmed over it briefly before folding it up and shoving it into one of his pockets.

"Well, folks, looks like we have our order! First up is Frosting, followed by Candice, then Brooklyn, then Delilah, and finally Terrence. Let the _dancing _extravaganza commence!"

I looked on at Taylor just to see if she was still watching. She had fallen fast asleep, and her head was tilted to the right so it slightly bobbed off of the edge of her seat. I averted my gaze back to the floor and noticed that all of the contestants had made their way to the center. Frosting was in front, and she looked up at us hopefully. I flashed her a reassuring grin and she smiled back before closing her eyes in concentration.

The music mix started up, and the crowd clapped to the beat.

"Now, we do dance competitions here in Hearthome a bit differently. The Pokemon in the lead has two minutes to do a freestyle dance of their choice. I'm just gonna run through the general idea of the dancing segment for all categories. For beauty, you earn more points using graceful, ballet-inspired moves. For toughness, aggressive, hardcore, battle-inspired moves will win you a spot in the finals. For cuteness, your "happy" dance is best. For smartness…" Jack thought a moment, then shrugged.

"Oh, what the hell! Let's get this show on the road!"

**…**

Frosting ended up coming in first place. She won a silver and blue silk veil, and Gram said she had a surprise for all of us. While everyone else was busy crowding around Frosting and worshipping the ground she floated above, I was busy laughing with Taylor. I mean, I was happy for Frosting and all, but the contest just wasn't all that serious to me. Now, if she had undoubtedly and impeccably dominated the Battle Frontier, then maybe I would have been paying some serious respects. But a beauty contest? Get real. Even Taylor thought the same thing I was thinking.

"Treasure Town sounds really cool. I think rescue teams are kick-ass," Taylor commented after I told her about all the cool missions you get to go on.

"Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, the adventures are really good, you learn a lot about battling and planning strategy and tactics, and you make lifelong friends." I was rattling off every possible detail about my life on a rescue team. Taylor's avid interest motivated me to keep bragging, and, honestly, my ego was swelling rather nicely.

"You know," I began," I think I could really get used to Survival Area. I could use it to be even more undefeatable than I am now."

"Yeah, whatever," she joked, punching me in my arm. Then, Ashton walked up behind me again and told me that Gram said we had to leave. I glanced at Taylor, an uncertain expression upon my face. Ashton groaned in impatience and slapped me on my shoulder.

"Dude, we've gotta go! Hurry up!"

I nodded at Taylor, and she followed Ashton and I back towards Gram and everyone else. Frosting had changed out of her performing dress and was now admiring her silk veil. Edie glanced my way and stared at Taylor intently before flashing her eyes to me again. I blinked at her and glared right back in annoyance, and, being Edie, she averted her gaze to the ground and shifted her paws against the carpet awkwardly.

"Grandma has a surprise for all of you. We're all going to—"

"Don't ruin the surprise, Grandma!" Frosting interrupted.

Gram giggled. "Oh, right."

She glanced my way, then smiled at Taylor.

"Who's this young lady?" Gram asked curiously.

"Gram, this is my new buddy, Taylor," I introduced. "Can she come?"

Gram nodded warmly. When I looked on at Edie, I noticed that she fidgeted a bit and looked uneasy. I shook it off, though, and talked with Taylor the whole way.

Eventually, we found our way to Amity Square, apparently one of Hearthome's main attractions. It was huge, and took up the entire back of the city. White picket fences lined the park, and a water fountain in the shape of a Vaporeon was centered in the heart of it all. There were small, jagged mountains and tunnels to go through and climb behind the benches.

Frosting and her grandmother led us to the west entrance, which was a small tunnel-like building with a sign consisting of a Psyduck, Torchic, and Drifloon plastered on a pink and white background. We walked through the gates, and Gram told us to go do as we pleased for the next thirty minutes.

"Now, we're only staying for thirty minutes because after this, I just _have _to take you to this new place that opened up about five months ago!" Gram squealed before shooing us off.

Taylor and I looked at each other, and I'm pretty sure that we both had the same idea in our heads. We dashed off towards the mountain terrain and climbed on. Taylor grabbed a stick from the ground and swiped it at my nose. I sneezed before picking up my own stick.

"Let's play the Imagination Game!" I suggested. Taylor looked at me as if I were crazy before asking what it was.

"Only _the _best game ever! It's basically when you're on an imaginary adventure with your imaginary adventurer friends and your imaginary—"

"Battle sequence that is began by your arch enemy with the cool eye patch!" Taylor finished for me.

"Wait, what?" I said in confusion. She shook her head and struck me quickly in my side before retreating back to her original position. I hunched over and fell to the ground involuntarily, my stick dropping from my mouth to the dirt.

"On guard, cruel soul!" she shouted, charging at me again as she dropped her stick, too. She flung herself at me, and just before she attacked I rolled over to my left. She quickly caught herself before she could crash and turned around. When she did, I was already streaking my way towards the top of the mountain. When I was on the fourth layer, my hind leg slipped on a loose sheet of rock, and I skidded down the slope towards Taylor. My butt was smoldering because of the friction, and the rough texture of the rocks wasn't helping in the least. Taylor tried to jump over me as I slid down, but I swept her up, too, and sent us both hurdling down the slopes. We were screaming and laughing at the same time right before we flew into the water fountain. Taylor flipped in first, and I followed behind second, accidentally landing on top of her and sending her head beneath the surface. She struggled beneath me and flipped me off of her, and I crashed into the water with a flop.

I was beginning to mentally panic, and I kept flailing my legs around wildly. My head repeatedly bobbed up to the surface just before falling back to the bottom, and I accidentally gasped in a bit of water and nearly choked on it. I was scared, frightened beyond belief, and paralyzed with fear. The water was dark and murky, and the sun wasn't glimmering its rays of elation down upon me anymore. My eyes rolled up in the back of my head, and I blanked out for a few seconds before coming to. That same nightmare flashed across my mind, and I struggled to break the surface. Ever since that fateful night at the Sky Tower, I had never set foot in the water again. I forgot how to swim.

I never relearned.

Suddenly, Taylor pulled me back up, and I inhaled a deep gasp of air. The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that Edie was sitting across the fountain with Lexi and Frosting, and she was staring at me, her eyebrows knitted in concern. I stared back at her, my mouth wide as I gasped for air. She didn't return my gaze.

"Tucker, what's up with you? An _adventurer_ like you can't swim?" Taylor teased, slapping me on my back. I sputtered out a few drops of water and shook my head. She had _no_ idea.

"I can swim. You just flung me into the water real hard, so I couldn't get up as quick," I lied, paddling away from her with pathetic excuses for swimming strokes. She snorted a laugh.

"The way you were flailing like that, I'm surprised that you didn't drown."

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat and shook my head. I would never drown, because I wasn't going to let _him _take me down with him.

**…**

"Whoa," Edie and Lexi said in unison.

"This place looks _awesome!"_ Ralph exclaimed, gazing about at the place. Taylor, Ashton, and I looked on in sheer amazement. This was going to be fun.

"Frosting, what _is_ this place?" Edie asked as she scanned the room with her eyes.

"This, my friends," Frosting introduced," is Arcanine's Arcade and Gaming Plaza. Gram and I came here when I used to live here with her."

Ashton perked up at the sound of his two favorite words: arcade, and gaming. That was all it took to get him excited. Taylor and I were getting hyper and restless just thinking about the cool things we could do here.

This place was even bigger than the contest arena _and _Amity Square combined, and the floor beneath us was of a black carpet with bright red diagonal lines that crossed one another. The walls were a pale gray, and above the front counter was a sign that read _Arcanine's Arcade and Gaming Plaza _in bold, red lettering. The only light sources present in the room were torches that were hung up along the walls. It sort of reminded me of Dinorex's store back at home. A Blaziken with a black and red tee shirt with the plaza's logo on it looked at us and nodded.

"One at a time to get your wristband, please."

He gave us each a black wristband with the company's logo in red and told us to keep it on throughout our stay here.

Gram paid him our fees, and the Blaziken led us through a doorway with a huge, black metal door, complete with the metal bars covering it. He creaked it open, and before us lay a long, metal pathway. Black railing lined the path, and the only lights that illuminated the dark were the bright, fluorescent ceiling lights.

"Once you go through, you can never turn back. This is the Portal of Destinies," the Blaziken said in a chilling, solemn voice. I glanced at Taylor, and she raised an eyebrow at me. Ashton elbowed me and snickered.

Once we were at the end of the path, there were five doors ahead of us. One had a green sign, another had a red sign, one had a yellow sign, then one had a blue sign, and finally, the last one had a silver, metallic sign.

"Choose wisely. Once you enter, you may change your rooms, but you may not exit through these doors. Have a nice time."

And with that, the Blaziken turned back down the hallway and left. Gram and Frosting went through the door with the blue sign. I guess it was for grandma-granddaughter bonding, but I really could care less at this point.

Lexi and Edie disappeared into the room with the red sign, and Ralph, Ashton, Taylor, and I went into the room with the green sign. As soon as we stepped in through the doors, the first thing I noticed was that everything was green. Like, shocking green. It nearly blinded me. The floors were made of a green carpet that was supposed to resemble grass, and full color, grass-type Pokemon statues sat on varying shades of green pedestals.

Pokemon of all kind walked around the room, some with balloons, others with ice cream cones and such. We all ran towards the left side of the room and dashed to the games that looked most fun. Taylor, Ashton, Ralph and I dashed towards the game with the purple Swalot with its mouth wide open on a revolving pedestal.

There was a pit of red balls circled around it, and we each grabbed one. I pressed the purple starting button on the side of the machine to start it.

The Swalot in the center began to turn faster with every spin, and I quickly caught on to what you were supposed to do. I tossed the ball at it, hoping to get it into its mouth. It bounced off the bottom lip, and Ashton and Ralph laughed at me. Ashton launched one and made it. Ralph missed, and Taylor was close to getting a point, but she missed at the last second.

The game was fun, but it was getting a bit boring after I had missed all of my turns but three. We walked away from that game and towards a different one. This one had an artificial tree stump with four buttons on it. It was connected to a balloon with a Wobuffet face on it.

"Wanna play this?" Taylor asked. I shook my head.

"Let's go to that silver room and see what's in there."

We found an exit in the back of the room and went out that way. When we made our way to the silver room, the lights were dimmed, and the only thing at least partially visible was a Mew statue that was in the center of the room on a silver platform. It gave off a pale pink glow that allowed me to slightly see the paper machete solar system model that was suspended in the air.

"Check this out," Ashton said, pointing towards a row of dimly lit arrows. We followed them to a dark room, and I reached out to open it. Pushing the heavy door ajar, I peered inside.

"What'cha see, Tucker?" Ralph asked nonchalantly.

"It's pitch black. I can't see nothin'," I muttered. Ashton pushed past me and walked through, gazing in every direction before turning back to us.

"There's a camera on the right wall, and the left one is just…there," he informed. "It looks like a ghost hunting room."

"That's ridiculous," Taylor snorted, shaking her head as she suppressed a smirk. She brushed past Ashton and stepped into the room, venturing to the center until a soft _click _was heard. A crackling noise soon followed, and she jumped back in astonishment.

"Dude, what is that?" Ashton asked, straining to listen to the sounds. After a long pause, the sounds became louder, more resonant, more deafening. The ground beneath us began to quake. Taylor rushed by back to us and stood there, staring in fear.

"What did you _do?" _I asked her, my eyes widened.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "I just stepped on a button or something…"

Ralph snapped his head around to give her an incredulous look.

Suddenly, the floor of the room that we had discovered caved in, and a formation that somewhat resembled a bouncy house appeared in its place. The ceiling split in half, and the two halves slid back until the roof was completely gone.

"What the fuck?" Ashton asked in confusion.

We all exchanged perplexed glances for a while. Then, I stepped up to the metal door of the house.

"What'd you think you're doing?" Taylor asked, scrunching her nose in disapproval.

"I'm gonna see what's in there. Obviously, it must be apart of what's 'posed to happen," I clarified, pressing my ear up against the door in an attempt to listen and see if any danger lie on the opposite side. "Besides, I haven't had my adventuring, rebelling kind of fix for two days straight. This'll have to do."

Ashton sighed, but stepped beside me anyway.

"If you just go out doing retarded things for the sake of adventure, you'll be adventured-out in about a year," Taylor mumbled before trotting over to Ashton and I. Ashton looked on at Ralph, who was still mentally debating over if he should follow us or stay there.

"You comin'?" Ashton asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Ralph thought for a moment before solemnly following us through the door.

As soon as I stepped in, I realized that everything was blue. Glistening, slightly murky, ocean blue. I looked around, noticed that I was all alone. Ashton wasn't here. Neither was Taylor or Ralph. The only thing that accompanied me was the array of sunlight rays that filtered through the surface, glimmering beams of tranquility that descended down through the water.

Saltwater flowed over my fur, making it flare out in waves as the water washed over it. I blinked, my mouth slightly agape. I didn't speak; just watched as the water rippled in patterns.

Then, I saw a form off in the distance. It cascaded through the water like an angel, so graceful and peaceful, yet so meaningful, as if it was falling from the Heavens above with a purpose. I stared at it, awestricken at the sight.

Without having any control over myself, I drifted towards it. I didn't stop myself as I reached out my paw to touch its face. I just wanted to feel the texture of it, just to make certain that it was real, and that now it was mine because I found it.

But when I turned the form over, I realized it was a body. A body identical to mine. Eyebrows knitted closely in inspection, I examined its features and gaped. My heart slammed in my chest, and I was just staring at her.

At my _mother._

Then, just as quickly as everything was calm, everything was broken. Her fur that was clumped together in my hands washed away with the waves, and her body dissolved to nothing. All of her that was once before me so beautifully was now diminished to _nothing._

The waters darkened; the currents quickened. They carried off the last of my mother that I once held so proudly in my paws never to see again.

And then, off in the distance, I saw a serpentine-like figure moving agilely and quickly through the water. Heading straight my way. From even a distance, I noticed through the near-black waters that the crossing lines on its long, towering figure were glowing a bright, golden yellow. Its eyes glowed a bright red, and for a fraction of a second, I was at Sky Pillar again.

That fateful scene flashed across my mind, and suddenly, the beast quickened its pace and stole a quick swipe at my shoulder. Its long, sharp claws scraped through flesh and slashed through my shoulder to the bone. I was screaming silently in agonizing pain as the salty waters stung at my exposed flesh. The beast didn't stop until he had carved out some sort of branding into my flesh. He gave out a long roar in success, and it was all over.

I just floated there as pools of my blood mingled with the water, tinting it crimson. My eyes rolled up to the back of my head, and I came to the realization that I was now scarred for life.

"_Tucker! Tucker, wake up, dude!"_

I snapped my head towards Ralph's direction. He stared at me, a frightful expression upon his face. His eyes were widened in fear, and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"What?" I asked, staring at him.

"Dude, we gotta get outta here! We gotta wake up Ashton and Taylor!" he screamed, dashing over to Ashton and shaking his shoulders furiously. Ashton didn't stir, and his glazed over eyes remained blank and phlegmatic. The same occurred with Taylor.

I shook at her shoulders furiously and slapped at her and bit at her heels, but it was still no use. Ralph had sat down beside Ashton in defeat, his head resting on Ashton's knee.

"What's happening?" I asked, blinking in an attempt to come back to reality.

"I don't know, but when I went to sleep or something, I was living this horrible nightmare. Like, it's always been my worst fear. But I don't even remember going to sleep," he spoke, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I don't think we can wake them up. I think they come to reality when the dream lets them."

So we waited. And waited. And waited. And _waited._

Finally, Ashton began to come to his senses. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, his pupils were present again.

"Oh, good! You're awake!" Ralph exclaimed, enveloping Ashton in a tight embrace. Ashton looked confused.

"I was never asleep," he replied. Then, Taylor woke up. Just the same as Ashton did, she glanced about at her surroundings in a fearful fashion, as if she was afraid that something was after her.

"We gotta get outta here. This is creeping me out, dude. Let's go," Ralph pleaded, tugging on Ashton's arm and pulling him out. I let Taylor walked ahead out of the door before me and followed after her.

As soon as we stepped out of the house, it disappeared, and the room transferred to how it was when we had first discovered it.

Immediately, Ralph began rambling incoherently about how he drifted off into this dreamland and how he had relived his worst nightmare and such.

"Man, it was real creepy because everyone hated me for some reason and everyone wanted to kill me and they were coming after me with knives and you guys tried to spike my drinks and—"

"You know what this sounds like?" Ashton interrupted thoughtfully, his fingers on his chin as he silently pondered.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"It sounds like that game that I always play. _Darkrai: Dream Destructors. _It's where you enter this reverse dimension, but you really don't enter one, because it's all an illusion. The illusion makes it look like you're living your worst nightmare, because in the game, it says that Darkrai entered your mind at night and fed off of your dreams and what you were thinking about when you went to bed that night. Something in that portal induced all that," he explained, his eyebrows furrowing with every passing minute.

I scrunched my nose and shook my head.

"But that doesn't make sense," Taylor said before I could. "This can't be based off of a freakin' video game. Plus, this room isn't themed with Darkrai; it's themed with Mew. So that basically throws off your entire theory."

Ashton narrowed his eyes at her. He hated when his logic was challenged.

"Yeah, I know that by now. Mew is a psychic-type Pokemon, and they're known to have hypersensitive intuition and stuff like that. They know how to get into minds, and they're believed to have psychological powers. It makes perfect sense," he bit back.

"How does that relate to anything? It's not like Mew is present within this room," she argued.

"But the room could be charged with hypersensitive energy that's similar to what Mew uses to get inside minds and figure out their feelings and emotions."

"Now, just how and why would the people who built this _arcade and gaming plaza _charge the room with 'hypersensitive energy'? What exactly is 'hypersensitive energy', anyway? Please, stop feeding nonsense into everyone's minds."

"Maybe they didn't build it, dunce. This could have been built years ago by a trainer and his Mew, and Mew did all the energy fusing. Hypersensitive energy isn't a real term; it's something that describes a form of energy that is _hypersensitive _to people's feelings. Something that makes people drift off into their subconscious, so whatever comes to their mind reflects off of their deepest dreams and nightmares alike. Both assist greatly when it comes to psychology. "

"That, again, makes no sense whatsoever."

"Enough!" I finally shouted. Ashton glanced at me in exasperation, and Taylor gave me the same look.

"We were having a heated debate, Tucker. Heated, but it was a debate no less," Ashton huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't care. Stop debating heatedly. Stop debating, _period." _

Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and fireworks began to go off around the perimeter of the room.

"It's almost closing time," Ralph concluded. "Let's go."

**…**

During the closing parade, Ralph, Taylor, and I all rode the Charizard float to the exit. Ashton was being really immature, so he told me that he wouldn't ride anywhere within a ten foot radius of that girl. He rode the Piplup float with Edie, Frosting, Lexi, and Gram.

"Oooh, check this out!" Ralph said. He pressed a button on the front of the float, and the head of the Charizard tipped back. The Charizard opened its mouth, and a small Flamethrower escaped.

Ralph stared at it in awe for a while before his lips broke out into a wide smile.

"Cool," he drawled, slapping his hand over the button again.

I looked at Taylor. She took a long time to meet my eyes, but when she did, she grinned slightly.

"So I guess I won't be seeing you?" she said, chuckling halfheartedly. I shrugged my shoulders and sighed.

"You can always come to Treasure Town."

She didn't respond, instead shifting in her seat so her head was on my shoulder blade. She drifted off to a placid slumber, and I couldn't help but stare off towards Edie's direction, if only for a fraction of a second.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Long chapter, huh? XD


	7. What Are You Waiting For?

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much for the reviews, really! Our favorite Pokemon are finally heading back to Treasure Town…

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><p><strong>-Edie's Point of View-<strong>

Today Frosting's grandmother woke us up bright and early. Everyone else was tired and groggy and cranky, but I was pretty used to it. I mean, back in Kanto, I'd be up at the crack of dawn going out and feeding the Torchics and getting them ready for breeding. I was already awake by the time Gram came bursting into our room, just sitting on the cerulean sofa cushion by the windowsill, gazing out at the early morning sun as it slowly made its way towards the sky. To be honest, the country view of the sunrise was much better, but the city view was fine, too.

I washed my face in the tub that Gram had for us in her bathroom and made my way down the staircase. It was just Frosting and Gram at the table. I sat down beside them and wished Frosting a good morning. Soon after, Lexi stumbled down the stairs, taking her seat beside me and grumbling somewhat of a greeting. She never was a morning kind of Pokemon.

Followed by her was Ashton. Finally, Ralph trudged down the stairs, carrying a sleeping Tucker on his shoulders. When he reached the table, he threw Tucker down at a seat and punched him in the face so he was startled to attention. I winced a bit at Ralph's sheer brute; I didn't see how guys could do it.

Tucker just glared at Ralph and cussed at him before closing his eyes for a really long time. When he reopened them, he looked as if he had had a bad hangover or something.

"My favorite boy has finally been dragged down to breakfast," Gram smiled as she turned on the stove on the pot. "How are you doing this morning, hun?"

Tucker mumbled a reply and rolled his eyes in exasperation. He's always rolling his eyes and stuff, and you can just tell without even talking to him when he's in a really bad mood. He never talks, and when he does, it's because he has something really snarky and sarcastic to say.

Gram just smiled and shook his attitude off like it was nothing. After a few moments of awkward silence and exhausted expressions, I sniffed the air. Everyone else must have noticed the faint scent, too, because suddenly no one looked very tired anymore…well, except for Tucker. I don't think he gave a damn what the smell was; he was practically knocked out on the table.

"Gram, are you makin' flapjacks?" Ashton asked, sniffing the air before lifting up his arm and smelling his armpits. He made a face of disgust and put his arm down.

"Something like that, sweetie. It's Grandma's secret recipe; passed down from generation to generation," Gram answered, stirring the pot with a large, wooden spoon.

"Oooh, Grandma, are you making poffins?" Frosting chimed. Gram just grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

After a few minutes, she turned off the stove and turned to us.

"Breakfast is ready. Frosting, set up plates, dear."

Frosting nodded in reply and got up to follow Gram's requests. Everyone received a plate, and Gram, came around and placed two poffins on each one.

"What do these taste like?" I asked curiously, observing the smooth, pink surface of the food. It smelled sweet and sugary, and the top layer was coated in a thin icing paste.

"You're gonna have to taste it and find out," Gram answered vaguely, turning to the refrigerator and opening it.

I shrugged and took a bite out of it, chewing slowly as I formulated my own thoughts about how it tasted. It was definitely sweet, and it had a doughy texture to it, like a pastry.

I looked on at Tucker. He had taken a bite or two out of one of his poffins and drifted off to sleep again. But I knew he wasn't fully asleep, though, because he kept drifting in and out of his slumber and opening and closing his eyes. Every time he opened them, though, his eyes always trailed to meet mine. I would blink and look away every time, only to return his glances after a short moment.

After breakfast, Gram sent us off for the airport. We rode the Dragonite flight back to downtown Treasure Town before walking through the crowds of bustling people back to our hometown. The guys led us to our team base and walked us in. Ashton's arm was casually around my shoulders, and when we were at the front entrance, he hugged me to him with the one arm that was securing me to him.

"Well, see ya later, babe," he said to me before letting go and waving at Lexi and Frosting. Ralph gave Lexi a wink and flashed a "call me" signal to her before turning his back to us and following his team towards the dirt road before them.

My eyebrows were still furrowed, because I was confused as to why Ashton would call me a "babe" when I, in fact, wasn't one in the least. Maybe it was a friend thing for him?

"Ugh," I heard Lexi groan. I glanced at her and noticed that her nose was scrunched up in annoyance.

"What?" I asked.

"We forgot to go check back with Whiscash so he could label our trip," she muttered, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling.

"The guys probably told him," Frosting suggested nonchalantly, turning to unpack her luggage.

"We still need to go check." Lexi turned to me, her mouth formed into a pout of contemplation. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Edie, you go."

"But I—"

"Edith, don't argue," she interrupted, turning to her bag with a huff. I sighed and mumbled an agreement before slipping out of the door and down the path to Treasure Town.

I waved and smiled to a few of the Pokemon that were chattering and shopping before making my way to Whiscash's pond. Almost immediately my eyes widened at what I saw.

"Get me outta here! I…I—" Tucker cried, accidentally choking up a gulp of water. He was struggling to break the surface of the water, but his teammates weren't allowing it. Whiscash was watching intently, yelling at Tucker for being immature and not trying.

"Tucker, you have to learn, dude!" Ashton snarled, pushing Tucker's head under the water. Tucker went under for a moment, then bobbed back up to the surface, flailing his arms and sending water splattering everywhere.

"I can't, I—" Tucker choked out, hacking up more water as Ralph shoved him down again.

"Dude, _swim! _You're learning! We're gonna make you learn!" Ralph said through gritted teeth as he struggled to send Tucker back underwater.

"Swimming is an essential aspect of adventuring, Tucker. You must learn," Whiscash preached over the screams of protest erupting from Tucker's throat.

"I'm gonna kill all of you if you don't get off of me!" Tucker replied viciously just before having his head shoved back underwater.

"Swim!" Ashton yelled.

"No!"

"Just let him go," Whiscash finally mumbled.

"But, sir—" Ashton began.

"Let him _go,_"Whiscash repeated. "He's going to learn. He can't avoid the water forever."

Ashton and Ralph exchanged exasperated glances for a moment. Ralph rolled his eyes and lifted Tucker over his shoulders. Ashton followed them to the bank right beside me and threw Tucker down onto the grass. Tucker sat up, coughing in exhaustion as he glared at his teammates. Ashton and Ralph loomed over him and glared right back.

"I don't see why you just can't learn. You're acting like a three-year-old," Ashton muttered. Ralph snarled an agreement before turning away from him. His eyes widened when he saw me.

"Hey, Edie," he grumbled. Ashton and Tucker averted their gaze to me.

"Hey," I responded quietly, turning to Whiscash to avoid the staring.

"What do you need, Edith?" Whiscash asked, swimming back to his usual position at the large rock in the center of the pond.

"I was sent to tell you that our trip is complete. We already have all our credits in, too."

"Done and done," he replied with a slight grin. I nodded and smiled back before turning to go back to our team base.

"Wait, Edie," Ralph started, extending an arm to grab at my shoulder. I turned around in astonishment.

"Come with us. You don't have anything better to do."

Tucker flittered his eyes between Ralph, Ashton, and I furiously, studying our expressions with an intent gaze.

"Actually, I have to get back to my team. They'll be worried about me, and Lexi will ask where I've been, and—" I began rambling only to be cut off by Ashton. He grabbed my other shoulder and pulled me closer to him.

"Yeah, Edie," he began. "Come watch us spar. It'll be real fun, and you might learn a thing or two from the best."

"We don't need a girl to come watch us train. She'll just distract everybody," Tucker spoke bitterly, his voice cold and monotone.

Ashton gave him a quick punch in the face and grabbed me up, slinging me over his shoulder.

"Tucker, don't be an ass. Edie is awesome, so she's coming," he said, walking off towards the training grounds just east of Treasure Town.

Tucker glared at me for a moment before rolling his eyes and following behind Ralph, Ashton, and I. When we reached the dirt field, Ashton bent down to let me roll off of his back and onto the ground before dashing off to the center of the field, taking his place in front of Ralph. Tucker was to the left of them.

"You call when to start, Edie," Ashton called out. I nodded and climbed atop of a wooden tree stump before turning around to face them.

"Okay, go."

Tucker took off first, charging at Ashton with a Thunderbolt attack. Ashton dodged it just as Ralph flew at Tucker from behind with a Shadow Claw. The impact sent Tucker spiraling down to the ground, his back grinding against the hardened dirt as he skidded against the surface. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes until he came to a stop, then made his way up, a vengeful glint sparkling in his eyes.

Ashton chose that time to start up an Earthquake. Tucker used his Magnet Rise attack just in time, so he was unaffected by the strength of Ashton's move. Ralph, however, was sent hurdling to and fro as the ground beneath him trembled and shook.

I was getting excited just at the sight of it all. I loved the feeling of victory. I loved the bittersweet feeling after you've been practically slaughtered in the battle of your life. Most of all, I loved the rush it gave me.

When you're out on that field, there are a lot of subjects buzzing through your head. Your number one thought is type advantages – how well you match up and how great your impact will be on the other Pokemon. A million strategies and battle plans are going through your head, and it's very interesting to battle against other Pokemon to figure out their unique way of battle.

Some use brutal force and sheer power to hit hard and fast. Some have tremendously high defense and special defense and use that to wall off opponents. It's amazing, because you always learn something out of a battle.

You'll witness a loss at least once during your lifetime, but you'll never leave a fight empty-handed. You never will. You'll always leave that field with at least a bit of knowledge, whether it's how you learned that your weakness is water or that your move pool needs better type coverage.

All this was rousing me to attention, and I had an itch that could only be scratched with a good brawling.

I wanted in.

I threw myself out onto that field, absolutely crazed and ready at the heavy scent of sparring in the atmosphere. I needed an outlet for this energy that I possessed. I needed to transfer my emotion into someone else, watch as they slowly close their eyes in surrender.

To my surprise, the guys took me wanting to fight very well. They didn't complain or anything, so that pretty much gave me the "okay" in my eyes that all was clear. I could do my damage and laugh in the face of danger. I could defy near-death and shatter the laws of battling. I was going to definitely be clobbering traditional rules and creating my own today.

The age of the brawlers was going to commence. Today. Right Now.

And I needed someone that shared my intensity, needed someone that would meet my fervor with his own and throw it right back at me, creating an indescribable form of coexistence that could only be found in the thick of battle. I needed someone who wasted no time with battle strategy and knew not the law of tactic but the law of attack and agility. I needed someone who wouldn't let me off easily, someone who would just barely let me go by with a broken and fractured limb and torn ear on a _good _day.

So I rushed Tucker with a Flare Blitz, followed by an Iron Tail because I was greedy for a fight and wanted him to respond. He whirled around to face me just as he was sent to the ground. I flew after him and tackled him, sending him flipping towards Ralph. Ashton and Ralph glanced at me, awestricken, before they cracked a smirk and walked away from the battlegrounds. They knew what I was after.

Tucker bounded back up and sneered at me. I sneered right back and licked my chops, challenging him to make the first move. Something I did must have set him off, because in a flash, we were going at it.

I head-butted him with a Zen Headbutt and rushed him with an Iron Tail, not bothering to give him a chance to recuperate from the blows. He flipped over a final time, and just when I was about to head-butt him again, he darted to the left. I thudded against the ground briefly before getting back up. He was already firing up an Iron Tail when I had finally risen.

He sprinted over to me, his deep emerald eyes glistening with determination and a strong perseverance – a look I memorized, because I possessed that same expression. He wasn't giving up. I wasn't walking away from this. So we fought harder.

The long spikes on his lower back glowed a brilliant, blinding white as he charged after me. He threw himself into the air, flipping over me till his back was directly over mine. At the last possible second, I sprang up to meet him halfway, my tail glowing a white shade of its own. Our tails clashed and collided together, and we were both sent barreling backwards. Tucker hit the ground hardest, and I used this to my advantage as I bolted towards him.

He staggered up to his feet slowly, and for a second I faltered, wondering if I should repress and hold back. But when I slowed down in my preparation for an attack, his expression fell, almost as if he was disappointed in my choice.

So I charged back after him again, already knowing in my mind that this would be the last blow for him. He would be down. I would have my victory.

I mustered up as much of my vigor that I had remaining and mentally prepared myself to perform a Flare Blitz. My eyes were blazing a deep, fiery red, and my bottom lip curled to reveal a row of sharp fangs. A thick veil of glowing red fire enveloped me in an emblazoned orb.

Tucker's eyes were now glowing a blinding gold shade, and his mouth was wide open. I already knew what was coming, so I braced myself for what was headed my way.

A Hyper Beam began to bubble in his throat, and it grew and grew until it couldn't fit in his mouth any longer. The area around his snout glowed white. The thick, white beam of light energy erupted from his throat, tiny rings of gold circling around the shaft. The powerful laser-like beam streaked through the air and towards me, spinning at an impossible speed.

I leapt straight into the center of the attack, the fire ignited around my body slicing through the light as I dove deeper and deeper through it. When I finally made contact with Tucker, the power of our attacks repelled, and we were sent hurdling backwards once again.

This time, there was no getting up. We had gotten our fair share. I had blown out all of my energy, and I had no need for an outlet anymore. I was exhausted, satisfied, and I got what I was vying for.

* * *

><p><strong>-Tucker's Point of View-<strong>

My muscles were still tingling at the sensation. My mouth was sore. My eyes were closed. I was infuriated. Livid. Seething.

I can't believe Edie just charged into the battle like that. I thought I was actually going to walk away from today's training session with battle scars and wounds of honor. Now I would leave with a scowl of exasperation. She just had to ruin my practice. If Ashton, Ralph, and I are going to be our region's strongest rescue team, then we need as much practice time as we can fit in. Sparring together is our best bet besides hitting Marowak's Dojo.

With sparring, we'd be getting lots of experience because we each have wide move pools that can cover a range of different types. When we spar, we're picking up battle strategies from each other and valuable information on type coverage. My electric attacks can blow Ashton to pieces; Ralph's Solar Beam can own Ashton. Ashton's Earthquake would have killed me if I didn't have Magnet Rise, but it can still do some serious damage to Ralph. I can't cover Ralph super-effectively, but my Hyper Beam can deal at least normal damage, so we're even, basically.

We learn how to fend for ourselves for when a certain situation calls upon it – such as getting lost in a dungeon or having another teammate get KO'd.

When Edie eavesdrops and invites herself to the party, all Hell breaks loose, because that completely ruins the type coverage strategy. Ralph is the only fire-type we need – any more and our balance would be shot to smithereens.

"Whoa, Ashton. Check this out," I heard Ralph say off in the distance. I strained myself to sit up a bit to see, but my shoulders were killing me, so I flopped back down.

"Damn. Edie. Tucker. We were only gone for an hour to go get a smoothie with the chicks and you both freakin' blew up the place," Ashton added, sipping on a blue smoothie as he walked over to me.

"Get up."

"I can't," I groaned.

"Get _up," _he repeated, kicking me in my side. I grimaced and rolled over on my stomach before sitting up.

"Wow. Edie whooped your ass bad," Ralph said, laughing hysterically.

"She did not," I replied back sullenly.

When I looked on in her direction, she was already gone. Ashton lifted me up onto his right shoulder.

"Doesn't hurt too much, huh?" he asked as we walked back to Treasure Town, Ralph by our side.

"Nah, I'll be okay."


End file.
